The Living Dead
by Snowflaked Angel
Summary: Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan’s school, into her world, and… into her heart? But Mikan's Ruka's girlfriend now! Pairings: NxM, RxM, and others. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1: Silent Tears

►The Living Dead◄

▬Chapter One: Silent Tears▬

* * *

Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.

* * *

"_Ruka-pyon!" _

Ruka, a tall, blonde-haired boy widened his baby blue eyes and turned his head to the direction of the voice. His bored expression immediately lightened up, and his mouth spread to a wide grin, showing off his perfect white teeth.

The person calling for his name was a cute brunette, with a smile even more dazzling than Ruka's.

"Hey, Sakura-san!" Ruka called, spreading his arms wide for a hug.

Much to his disappointment, however, Mikan sniffed indignantly and folded her arms across her chest, leaving some space between them.

Ruka, sensing something was amiss, quickly dropped his outstretched arms dejectedly to his side, and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Mikan, who was looking away from him, side-glanced at him and pouted. "I thought I told you not to call me 'Sakura-san'."

Ruka grinned again, then opened his arms for another hug. "Alright, Mikan."

Mikan's eyes lightened up as she layed her head on his warm chest and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you, Ruka," Mikan whispered softly into his shirt.

"_Watashi-mo_ (Me too), Mikan…_eto_ (um)…"

Mikan smiled, then looked up into Ruka's perfect face. "_Nani _(What)?"

"How was your mission?" Ruka asked, while playing with Mikan's two pigtails absentmindedly.

Mikan's smiling face fell, and she stepped away from Ruka. "The usual."

Ruka sat on a tree stump on the ground and gently reached for one of her hands. "Why do you never tell me about your missions? Don't you trust me, enough? Do you…" Ruka paused in the middle of his sentence.

Mikan's eyes were shadowed by her hair, Ruka had no idea what she was thinking.

The wind that was there a second ago seemed to die, the trees stopped rustling, all was still. All waiting for the end of the sentence.

"Do you _love_ me, enough?"

Mikan's head suddenly snapped up. "Ruka! Of course, I love you enough, how could you say that? It's just that, well, I don't want to talk about it, I'm sorry."

Ruka sighed, then stood up next to Mikan and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Look, I know you're really unhappy being forced into the Dangerous Abilities class after Natsume—"

Mikan turned around so fast that Ruka bumped his chin and stumbled backward.

"Don't. Talk. About. _Him_." Mikan's words seemed as if they were squeezing the breath out of her. Ruka never saw her this distraught. Her face was pale, her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, her fists clenched so tightly that they were white…

She opened her chocolate-brown eyes that were filled with shining tears. _"Please…_" were her last words, before she whipped around and ran back to the Alice building.

* * *

Mikan ran as fast as her legs would carry her, away from Ruka, away from everything. _Why did he have to bring up him? Ruka, you baka! _She cried inside her frazzled mind.

She ran all the way to her single-star room, and once she locked herself in from the door and the window, she threw herself on her bed miserably. She did not know how long she cried in that position, how many tears dropped, and where those tears went after flowing down her beautiful face. All she could think about, at that moment, was _that person_.

After she finished crying, she stared at her bed covers blankly, for who-knows-how-long. Then, a certain memory triggered her, and again, she started weeping.

Then, through her blurred vision due to her thousands of tears, she saw a white bottle on her nightstand. She slowly outstretched her arm and clutched it, shakily dumped something out of it and swallowed.

Then, everything went black.

* * *

_Meanwhile_…

"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY?"

"My lord… I-I said it's gone!"

"Go catch it at ONCE! Or else you will suffer the punishment of…" The older man yelled, spittle flying from his mouth.

"Hai! My lord!" The younger man's eyes were wide with fear, then hurried out the room, leaving the old man alone. His face showed malice, and his eyes were bloodshot.

_You cannot escape, it is impossible... I will find you, and when I do…_

The old man lifted his index finger at a mouse scurrying in the corner of the room, and in a flash, the mouse turned to dust, leaving only a pool of blood behind…

* * *

"Shinto! Right there!" A masked man pointed to a dark figure crawling up the stairs.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU BRAT!" The man named Shinto, also wearing a mask, yelled as he charged up the stairs, carrying a stun gun.

The boy inhaled sharply, then continued scrambling up the stairs, but this time, with much more haste than before.

He heard an evil laugh echoing from bottom of the spiral stairs and shuddered—twice.

"You think you can outrun us, boy? With that twisted ankle of yours? Moreover, your fatigue, is it bothering you yet?" More laughs erupted from the bottom.

_Shit, more people are coming._ _I guess it's time…_ the boy thought, kneeling down to his shoe. To a normal person, you would think he was trying to tie his shoe, but instead, he slipped his hand _in_ his shoe and pulled something out and hid it in his pocket.

_It's time…_

* * *

_Knock. Knock._

"Who is it?" Ruka teared his eyes from his window and looked at his door.

"Ruka."

Ruka turned his eyes back to his window view. "I don't want to talk, Imai-san, at least, not right now."

"_Shikata ga nai _(I guess it can't be helped)," Hotaru said, tonelessly, as Ruka jumped up in alarm as his door got blasted off its' hinges and fell to the floor with an earthquake-worthy _thud_.

Ruka, stumbling because his chair was overturned by his sudden movement, glanced swiftly from the wrecked door, to Hotaru, who was blowing her steaming baka-gun.

Ruka, always a calm and shy boy, fought to keep his voice controlled. "Just, why, may I ask, did you blast down my door, Imai?"

Hotaru looked at Ruka's clenching fists with amusement. "I did it because you wouldn't open the stupid door, baka."

Ruka closed his eyes, trying to quell the tornado of madness inside him. He exhaled slowly, then slowly opened his eyes, revealing his clear, blue-ocean-colored eyes. He pointed at the still-steaming baka-gun. "I thought it was only meant for idiots. How did it blast down my door?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes, while replying, "It works just fine, even when not directed at a 'baka', however, not as effective," and with that, raised her baka-gun level to Ruka's head, and fired a couple rounds.

Ruka crumpled to the ground, clutching his throbbing head in pain. "IMAI-SAN!"

Hotaru flipped Ruka's overturned chair back to its' correct position, and sat down. "I would have fired a few dozen more, but I could not let you be unconscious."

Ruka, finally gaining control over his throbbing head, managed to hoist himself onto his bed and he plopped down onto his soft double-star bed. "Why?"

"I have a few questions for you."

Ruka groaned, and turned over so his facing wasn't facing Hotaru's side. "Is it about Mikan?"

"Yes."

"Look, it's simple and clear. Everytime I ask her how her mission went, she would give me the cold-shoulder."

Hotaru folded her arms across her chest. "I already _know_ that, baka, but this time, I sense that there's something different. She locked herself in her room, and wouldn't come out, even for _Howalon_ (Fluff Puffs) at Central Town."

Ruka widened his eyes. "_Hontoni _(Really)?" _Everybody_ knew that Sakura Mikan could not resist the sweet smells of _Howalon_, ever!

"Well…" Ruka began.

"Yes?" Hotaru leaned forward, secretly turning on her spy recorder. This information could get interesting and would go well on her secret files.

"I mentioned… well… ah…"

"Hurry up and flow with it, Nogi," Hotaru snapped, getting quite impatient, fast.

"I… I brought up Hyuuga." Ruka looked down, shamefully.

Hotaru scrunched up her face. "You _brought up_ Hyuuga? Are you his parent or something?"

Ruka opened his eyes in shock and yelled, "NO! I _meant_ that I _mentioned_ Hyuuga."

(Author's Note: Note that even though Ruka was Natsume's best friend, why does Ruka call Natsume "Hyuuga" as if… they weren't close at all? You will find out later.)

Even Hotaru, the ice queen, couldn't contain her shock. "Why did you _do_ that?"

Ruka looked depressed. "I wasn't thinking properly. I was a little mad at her, I guess."

"_Bakayaro _(You jerk)! Don't you know that she's being trying to forget about him for the past… 4 years?"

Ruka was shocked. "F-f-forget him? Mikan?" _For 4 years! _Ruka thought. _Mikan's 16 now, so…_

Hotaru interrupted his thoughts. "She did it for you, stupid. Ever since she started loving you, she did her best to forget about him. And, she did. Until, you, _bakayaro_, brought it up today."

Ruka looked up at Hotaru and didn't say anything. _She did that for me? Really? _Then, he flashed back to his conversation with Mikan from before.

_Do you… do you love me enough?_

He buried his face in his hands.

Hotaru, seeing that her work here was done, picked up her baka-gun and quietly left the room, not before saying, "Oh hey, you owe me 500 rabbits for me telling you that."

Ruka didn't even lift his head to complain, moreover about his wrecked door. He was too ashamed to even utter a word.

_I can't believe I even said those words. Mikan _does_ love me, I was too scared to think that she didn't. Oh, _kami-san (_God)_, _why did I have to bring Hyuuga up?_

Ruka lifted his head, finally. _That damn Hyuuga. Who does he think he is, doing that to Mikan and making her suffer so much?_

Then, he fell into a deep, but troubled sleep, full of lurking nightmares.

* * *

"Mikan!"

"Mikan-chan!"

"You're back!"

Everyone rushed to greet Mikan as she returned from her 1day absence. "Hi, everyone! Sorry I was absent yesterday, I wasn't really feeling well."

"It's okay, Mikan! As long as you're here, everyone's happy!" Anna chirped, ushering Mikan into the classroom.

Iinchou hurried over to Mikan. "Mikan-chan!" he exclaimed that slightly girly voice of his.

"_Ohai-you _(Good morning), Iinchou!" Mikan smiled, then walked to her seat in the back…

Which happened to be right next to Ruka's seat.

"_Osu _(Yo), Ruka-kun."

Ruka, looked _very_ surprised and looked at Mikan closely.

He noticed her cheeks were a little pale, and her eyes were darker than usual… a lot duller too. Nothing like the shining eyes that he saw yesterday.

"Are you alright, Mikan?" Ruka asked, standing up to get a closer look.

"Of course, of course, Ruka-pyon!" Mikan waved absentmindedly, then sat in her seat and stared dully forward.

Ruka, sensing something was wrong, quickly felt Mikan's forehead, which wasn't hot. But the alarming thing was, Mikan didn't even react to Ruka touching her.

Hotaru also knew something was up, and tested Mikan. "What's 1+1."

Mikan giggled. "Two."

"5 times 10?"

"Eto… 50."

"Ruka's last name."

"Nogi."

"The name of this school."

"Gakuen Alice."

"Your current boyfriend's name."

"Ruka-pyon!" Mikan grinned.

Ruka felt somewhat relieved that Mikan was okay. "Imai-san, it's okay to stop—"

Hotaru ignored him and continued seriously.

"Your 1st boyfriend's name."

Ruka's jaw dropped wide open.

Hotaru pretended she didn't see that.

The class turned silent. Everybody knew who it was, and how Mikan didn't like to talk about him, and those who did, faced her wrath.

Mikan's face was curiously blank. "Ano… eto… Ruka's my first boyfriend," she answered slowly, obviously a little confused.

Hotaru looked closely at Mikan. "Don't you remember anybody with the last name of Hyuuga?"

Something _pinged_ in the back of Mikan's head, but she was too groggy in the brain to know what it was. She tried to figure it out, because she didn't like the way her classmates were looking at her, as if they feared her, or something like that. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. "I don't remember," she managed to say.

Hotaru tried to say something to Mikan, but was cut off by Ruka.

"Imai, enough."

Hotaru tilted her face toward Ruka, and so did the other classmates. They never heard Ruka speak like that to anyone, especially a girl.

Hotaru didn't speak. It seemed as if invisible waves of communication were flowing between Hotaru and Ruka. Finally, Hotaru hardened her eyes and said, "Let's take Mikan to the hospital."

"Why? There is nothing wrong with her."

"Excuse me, Nogi, but _yes_ there is obviously something wrong with her."

"Imai-san, I said _enough_. Who cares if she doesn't remember—"

"For your information, _Nogi_, that person was your former best friend, and should still be!" Hotaru snapped. "The fact that she doesn't remember him really troubles me, and you're not helping by being all jealous and pretending everything's all right!"

Ruka was speechless.

"I… I…"

Hotaru continued. "If you don't care about Mikan's health, then fine, but stay out of my way. Because I'll protect Mikan."

The class inhaled sharply. They _never_ heard Ice-Queen speak with so much emotion about Mikan before.

Ruka sighed. "All right, let's take her."

* * *

Ruka and Hotaru waited patiently while the school doctor inspected Mikan's tongue, checked her fever, pulse, eyes…

Then the doctor nodded sadly and wrote something down on his paper.

"Ano… do you know what's wrong with Mikan?" Ruka asked tentatively.

The doctor sighed. "I will answer your question, but you must answer mine first. Is this girl going through some tough times in her life? Any recent family deaths, or relationship problems?"

Hotaru heard Ruka gasp when the doctor said "deaths".

Hotaru spoke for Ruka. "4 years ago, her friend died during a mission."

The doctor nodded mechanically, flipping through his notes. "Hyuuga Natsume-kun, _desho _(Am I right)?"

Hotaru nodded stiffly. "He was the only person she didn't remember when I quizzed her today."

"Doctor, do you know what's wrong with her? Please tell us!" Ruka pleaded. He was getting really worried.

"Well…" the doctor started, "Sakura Mikan is currently taking drugs."

* * *

Wh-hoaaa, cliffhanger, much? Sorry about that! But, I have a personal liking for cliffhangers, hehe. Did you like the chapter? I don't have much confidence in this, but I want to continue the story, but I need to make sure I'm actually writing for an audience! So, I will wait until there are 10+ reviews before writing the next chapter. Sorry, but please review! And tell me what I should improve, and stuff.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully, I'll write soon, but it's first up to you guys!

* * *

►Vanillacottoncandy◄

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." --D-Gray Man Manga


	2. Chapter 2: A Small, Small Smile

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Hey everyone! I decided to update early, before those 10 reviews were out, because, I really wanted to continue the story, and I'm sure everyone wanted to know what happened next! So, here it is, and I hope you like it!**

* * *

_**Previously…**_

**Hotaru spoke for Ruka. "4 years ago, her friend died during a mission."**

**The doctor nodded mechanically, flipping through his notes. "Hyuuga Natsume-kun, **_**desho **_**(Am I right)?"**

**Hotaru nodded stiffly. "He was the only person she didn't remember when I quizzed her today."**

**"Doctor, do you know what's wrong with her? Please tell us!" Ruka pleaded. He was getting really worried.**

**"Well…" the doctor started, "Sakura Mikan is currently taking drugs."**

* * *

▬_Chapter Two: A Small, Small Smile▬_

"_Drugs?" Ruka echoed, his mind whirling with unpleasant thoughts._

"_Hai_ (Yes), Nogi-kun. And the side effects are familiar to me. It seems that half of the Dangerous Ability-Type students have come to me with the same condition." The doctor closed his notebook and stood up to face Ruka and Hotaru. Ruka thought the doctor seemed a little bored, and Ruka's eyes flashed with anger.

"There, of course, is nothing I can do about it. After all, the prescription is, in no way, harmful to the body, and it isn't effecting her studies, am I correct?"

"YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETH—", before feeling a sharp tug on his sleeve and found himself being pulled away by Hotaru, who was silent until she muttered "_Thanks_" to the doctor and sped out…

With Ruka being dragged like a potato sack on the floor.

"Imai-san! Ano, please let go of me, this hurts, you know," Ruka muttered a little darkly, while still being the usual polite Ruka.

Hotaru didn't react, and exasperated Ruka was about to repeat his command when she suddenly let go, causing Ruka to fall flat on his face.

"_Ite-te-te _(Ow-ow-ow)!"

Hotaru looked at him condescendingly, and, as if she didn't have enough time for his whining, then dragged him by his uniform again and continued to sprint toward the buildings that were known as the "Alice Dorms".

Suddenly, a tall figure with black-hair stepped out of the shadows and slowly approached them. Ruka silent-gasped, thinking it was Persona, the Dangerous Ability-Type teacher, who he fought against when he was possessed by Reo in order to save Natsume.

Ruka narrowed his eyes. _Hyuuga, I mean._

"Where are you going, Imai?"

The voice sounded a little too young to be Persona's voice.

_Come to think of it, when approaching us, I didn't hear the familiar sound of super-high high-heeled boots clacking on the floor… _Ruka thought slowly…

Ruka dared to look up, and let out a cleansing sigh. It wasn't Persona, it was Subaru, Hotaru's _onii-chan _(brother), even though they acted like they didn't even know each other, which Ruka thought was funny at times, but also a little saddening.

Ruka looked up toward Hotaru's face for her reaction, but, as usual, there was none on her Ice-Queen face, just impatience.

Hotaru looked at her _onii-chan_ squarely in the eye with coldness, and replied, "I forgot something in my room."

Subaru stared at Hotaru coldly as Hotaru responded with invisible ice-daggers. Then, he turned to Ruka and pointed. "With him?"

"_Eto_ (Um)… _sono _(Uh)…" Ruka stammered lamely, looking from Hotaru to Subaru, Subaru to Hotaru, back and forth…

"_Narumi-sensei_ said that I couldn't leave the class without a partner." Hotaru responded quickly, silently rolling her eyes at Ruka for his lame stammer. Without further ado, Hotaru whisked Ruka off into the Alice dorm building.

"That Hotaru…" Subaru sighed irritatedly, but inside, he felt proud of his sister for handling the situation so well, and with so much confidence.

* * *

The boy pushed his hand farther into his pocket, clutching the stone so tightly, that his knuckles turned pure white.

"Should I put an Alice barrier on the kid?" A deep voice grunted.

"Nah, he's too exhausted to use his Alice."

The boy grinned lopsidedly. _The stupid people don't even realize that I'm getting away… they can talk as long as they want. _He thought. He continued to, slowly but determinedly, crawl up the stairs, dragging his sprained left ankle with all his strength.

_I need… to… get back…_

"Oi! Shut your trap, Ichi! He's getting away!" Shinto snapped, while racing up the staircase.

_Damn,_ the boy thought, but also accidentally said aloud.

"I hear his voice! There, there!" More footsteps coming up the stairs.

Shinto, the fastest of them all, saw the boy first.

"I've got you now."

To the boy's astonishment, threw the stun gun down the stairs with a loud clatter, and raised his hand, palm-side facing the shocked boy.

"Thought we didn't have Alices, _Gaki_ (Brat)?" Shinto laughed, while never taking his eyes of the boy's.

"What's your alice?" The boy asked quietly, secretly still gripping the smooth stone.

"Do you think I will tell you?" Shinto stopped laughing and hardened his eyes. "But," with a flimsy wave of his hand, "I'll tell you before I act, seeing how pathetic you are right now, and I pity you."

The boy tried his hardest to avoid those mocking eyes.

Suddenly, everyone arrived to see Shinto and the boy both having killing auras around them. "Shinto! Need help?"

Shinto growled, and they immediately backed off. He was the leader of the search party and everyone obeyed his orders without question.

The boy gritted his teeth, remembering…

"_Oi, Kune." _

(**Author's Note:** Pronounced "Ku-ne")

_I didn't look up. I already knew who it was. "Get out of my face, Shinto."_

"_Do you think you really have the right to say that, in your position?" Kune heard the _thud, thud, thud_ of a pair of sturdy shoes as Shinto sauntered over to Kune._

"_Hell, yeah, I do." The boy shot back._

"_Now, now, if you will just be a good boy and answer all my questions, then you'll be an official member of the AAO, and we won't treat you as badly as now."_

"_No."_

"_DAMN YOU! HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOU TO ANSWER, YOU KOZO (_Little Brat)_!" Shinto's face was suddenly offensively close to Kune's._

"_I won't answer your questions, ever. So stop wasting your breath." Kune turned his head away from Shinto, which was hard, since his arms and ankles were handcuffed to the wall. _

At least they gave me a bench to sit on. _Kune thought miserably._

'_Because of _you_, the boss is angry with me. And he has never doubted my abilities, EVER!" Shinto jabbed a finger at Kune's face._

_Kune stared back defiantly, when inside, he was trembling._

"_When this mess is over, I will kill you with my own hands, you hear me?" Shinto yelled as he slammed the door shut, creating a minor earthquake in Kune's opinion._

* * *

"How will we get in?" A timid voice asked.

Ruka found himself standing in front of Mikan's Single-Star bedroom door.

Hotaru lifted her baka-gun once more.

Ruka gulped, then stepped aside to let her do her dirty work without question. He knew the severe consequences.

Ruka thought he imagined a small, tiny smirk on Hotaru, the Ice-Queen's, face when she lowered the Baka-gun and took out a silver key.

She jammed it in the key-hole, and the door propped open automatically, wheezing: "Oh-hai-you, Imai. Coming to visit again?"

Hotaru nodded at the door, and slowly looked over her shoulder at Ruka. "Don't stand out there like a _baka_. Get in, before I make you."

Ruka, as if being jerked away from a good dream, awkwardly moved his legs and walked into Mikan's room. He never been to a girl's room before…

_Except Imai-san's room. But her room is practically connected to her lab, and we go there all the time, so that doesn't count. _Ruka thought quickly.

Hotaru looked around the room and made a bee-line to Mikan's nightstand.

"Wh-wha-what are you doing?" Ruka had his eyes closed, he wasn't sure if he should look at Mikan's room, in case there was anything Mikan wouldn't want to let him see.

(**Author's Note**: How considerate of Ruka! If only our brothers and sisters were this obedient…)

"Open your eyes, _baka._"

Ruka was surprised by the soft, lofty voice. He cracked open an eye, not believing that was Hotaru's voice when she wasn't in monotone.

"Nogi. Get over here." Hotaru waved her hand over and grabbed a white bottle.

Ruka, now opening his eyes fully, saw there wasn't anything really special about Mikan's room, even though it made him pink in the face a little bit, just being in there. But Hotaru's sudden change of mood occupied his mind, and he walked over to Hotaru without hesitation.

"_Doush-tano _(What's wrong)?" Ruka peered into Hotaru's face.

Hotaru sat on Mikan's bed. "_Hora _(Here)." She passed him the white bottle.

Ruka carefully cupped the small bottle into his hands, as if it held the secrets of the universe. But he widened his eyes as he read the label.

"_Masaka _(It can't be)…"

* * *

"…I have the Alice of Transparency."

Kune nearly snorted. Well, he would have, but he was too exhausted. So all Shinto heard was a huge sigh.

Kune loosened his grip on the stone. "Alice of _Transparency?_ Never heard of it, but hey, useless man has useless powers."

Shinto laughed loudly.

_God, I hate that laugh. _Kune thought with irritation and quickly stole a look behind him, to find that the staircase ended right there.

_Shoot. A dead-end._

"Oh yes, from first look, it's useless," Shinto, who was leaning on the walls of the staircase before, stopped leaning against it and made one hand go through the wall, "but, it has a few certain tricks."

Kune gripped the stone again. "And would you care to tell me those tricks?" he replied mockingly, even though on the inside his heart was beating faster and faster, and he felt like he didn't have the strength to breathe in time to those erratic beats. He loosened his grip on the stone and let it fall into his pocket, what could the Alice of _Transparency_ do?

Shinto side-glanced at Kune with a smirk. "I can't tell you, but I'll show you."

Kune felt a flash of movement and a rush of wind enter his body. He gasped a little, and looked down.

Shinto's hand was _in his body._

Kune widened his eyes in fear as he felt his heart in the palm of that ice-cold hand.

"You know," Shinto lazily drawled on this words, "I could take your heart, and yank it out, without even leaving a mark on your body… wouldn't that be a great way to die? I mean, nobody would know!"

(**Author's Note: **Sorry, I got that from D-Gray Man, you know, with Tykki Mikk and Allen? So, if anyone is offended for some reason about this, just talk to me and I'll change it)

_Stupid! Always under-estimating people. This is what you get for being so ignorant!_

Who are you? My conscience?

_Tch, no duh, _aho _(Butt)._

Well, what am I supposed to do? A guy has me cornered, with my heart in his hands. WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?

_For starters, stop yelling, you ignorant brat._

I thought you were conscience, a part of me.

_I have my own mind, now _urasai _(Shut up)_. _I'm thinking._

Hurry up… time's running out…

* * *

"_Polka."_

Mikan awoke with a start, and sat upright on the bed. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and looked around.

_Who was that? The voice felt… so, familiar, and warm… I want to hear that voice again, whoever it was…_

Mikan stretched, then hopped off the bed.

"Oh, I'm in the nurse's room!" she said, surprised. "Ruka and Hotaru took me here. _Mataku (_Jeez), they made me come here for no reason… at least I got a good day's sleep."

She glanced at the clock on the bear-wallpapered wall. "_Sonna _(No way)! It's already 2:30pm! I gotta go!"

Since the doctor wasn't in the room, she hurried out and ran to the Alice dorms.

* * *

"_Sonna _(No way)_… _Mikan…"

It was Hotaru who first recovered from the shock. She looked at Ruka, who was still wide-eyed with his mouth open in a perfect "O" formation that would make any girl swoon with love.

Well, except for Ice-Queen.

She lifted her Baka-gun as a warning to Ruka, but he wasn't even paying attention to her. Getting impatient, she hit the trigger and a round of baka-bullets bounced off Ruka's blond head.

He immediately awoke from his daze and passed the white bottle to Hotaru. Ruka didn't even complain about the pain. Hotaru accepted the bottle and quickly hid it in her pocket.

"What are you doing?"

(**Author's Note: **LOL, Ruka says that _a lot_ in this chapter… because Hotaru is so unpredictable!)

"I'm making sure she doesn't eat more of this. It's dangerous for her."

"Oh. But what if she gets her hands on another one of these?" Ruka asked.

"_Wakaranai_ (I don't know). But we'll think of something." Hotaru stood up from the bed.

"_We?_" Ruka looked surprised.

"Of course, _we_. Doesn't matter. If you don't want to do it, I'll _make_ you do it." Hotaru's eyes unfocused, as if gazing at something that Ruka could not see in the distance…she also had a small evil smile, enough to make the world's most dangerous terrorists quake in fear and obey her commands.

Ruka flinched, and thought about his pictures Hotaru was selling…

"Fine." Ruka was about to say, but he was interrupted when the door flew open and a red-faced Mikan, hair-flying, threw open the door and stared at the two in astonishment… _and anger?_

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Mikan asked with suspicion. She closed the door and walked in, leaning on her bedroom wall.

"Ah…" Ruka stammered, _again_.

Hotaru shot him a look that meant something like _"Stop being so lame, baka."_

Hotaru stood up and looked around the room. "I wanted to see if any of my books were left in my room from the sleepover a couple days ago."

Mikan immediately brightened. "The one were we were singing Karaoke with only our--"

"Yes!" Hotaru interrupted immediately.

"Oh! Well, I don't think there are any of your books here, _gomen_ (Sorry)! I could help you search if you want!" Mikan exclaimed, being dense as usual.

Ruka, recovering from the heart attack he received when Mikan came in, spoke up. "Why's your face so red Mikan? I thought you were mad… or… um, something."

Mikan cocked her head to the right. "Oh! I was running from the nurse's office to the dorms, so that's why!" Mikan beamed, then continued. "_Ano…_ Ruka-pyon, why are you on my bed?"

"_Ha _(Whaa)? What do you me—" Ruka shot up from Mikan's bed as if he was a rocket. He staggered backwards and bonked his head on the opposite wall.

Mikan giggled and Hotaru whipped out her camera, which was upgraded into a video-taking device as well, and quickly recorded the whole scene with a malicious smile. And the fact that Ruka was complaining while blushing? A definite sell-out, which meant another ton of rabbits for Hotaru. All the money thoughts made Hotaru smile a little.

After all the good footage was taken, Hotaru snapped her camera off and turned to Mikan. "_Baka, _sometimes it's okay to remember." she said seriously, before getting on her scooter, which magically appeared in the dorm hallway, and rode off.

Ruka immediately ran after her, still hiding his still-growing bump on his head with his arms. But, being a gentleman, he grabbed Mikan's hand and kissed it gently before running out.

Once they were both gone, Mikan laughed so hard. It was great to laugh again. It seemed as if all those stiff laughing muscles in her face finally loosened, and she was free. Free to conquer anything.

She stood by the window and gazed at the flying birds circling the buildings.

_Baka, sometimes it's okay to remember… _was what Hotaru said.

Mikan twirled her pigtails absentmindedly on her finger.

_But, what is there to remember? I know there's something wrong with me… but… I can't, it's too painful to remember._

"_MUUURIII (_USELESS)!" Mikan's hands were over her head in defeat.

_Why should I undo all my hard work over these 4 years? After all I did to forget? And now, just to remember? No way!_

_I even asked Persona for some medicine to make me forget. To forget it all. _

_Oh, what I did to get that medicine… I participated in top-class dangerous missions, which caused my grades to slack, bringing my already failing Math grade to a 30._

(**Author's Note: **An "F" which is a fail, is 60 and lower. Her grade used to be a 58)

Mikan shook her head to put those memories back to where they belonged: in the back of her head.

Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with a memory, that she never remembered before… the force of it made Mikan stagger back. She had to clutch her bedpost to remain balanced.

* * *

"_Polka."_

"_Natsume?" I whirled around to find Natsume leaning against our Sakura tree._

"_Who else would it be?" Natsume shoved his hands into his pockets and walked to me._

_Oh, how I missed him…_

"_Miss me?" Natsume gently laid his hands on my shoulders from behind and pulled me back, so I was leaning against his strong body._

"_Missed you," I replied with a dashing smile, searching his face hungrily as if I couldn't get enough._

_I saw his eyes soften. That's the thing with him, he rarely smiles, but you know when his eyes soften, it counts as a smile, for him._

_Next thing I knew, he was kissing me softly, and I was kissing him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and I felt his hands in my hair. I closed my eyes and I entered a blissful world, without any dangerous missions Natsume always goes to, without sorrow, regret, or hunger… just… pure bliss._

_Out of breath, I broke the passionate kiss. I could feel that my cheeks were still flushed, and I bet I was grinning idiotically too. But I didn't care. When I was with him, nothing mattered, just him, and me._

"_Oh, _souda _(That's right)! This is for you." I reached into my pocket and held out my fist for Natsume to see._

"_What is it?" I could tell he was curious._

_I giggled, then slowly opened my closed fist, revealing…_

"_An alice stone?" Natsume looked up at me in surprise._

_I nodded happily. "This is for my nullification and stealing Alice. Narumi-sensei said even though it's small, it's very powerful and can last as long as any other Alice stone."_

_Natsume was speechless. "You know the legend right?"_

_**(**_**Author's Note: **If you read the manga, you know that the legend meant that if someone gives another their Alice stone, it counts as proposing to that person. If they exchange stones, then they will be together forever.)

_I blushed, then looked down at my feet. "Yeah."_

_Natsume grabbed my hand, suddenly, and put something inside it. It felt smooth and rounded… could it be?_

_I opened my hand to reveal a red Alice stone. "Natsume…"_

_Natsume held up my orange stone and I held up his red one. "Now, _itsumo ishoni-dayo (_We'll always be together)."_

"_Itsumo _(Always)…"

_Natsume leaned in for another kiss, and I obliged. It was a gentle thank you kiss, and a few seconds later the kiss broke, and on both of our faces was a small, small smile._

* * *

"What, speechless, now you know what I'm capable of?"

Kune looked up into those black eyes he loathed for all these years. He refused to show a sliver of doubt or fear, but his eyes betrayed him.

Shinto seemed to see that fear and tightened his grip on Kune's fast-beating heart.

_I'm going to die. _Kune shut his eyes.

_You are _not_ going to die, BAKAYARO, the stone, THE STONE! _The voice seemed to come back.

Kune wanted to open his eyes in surprise, but didn't want Shinto to think he was planning something. He slowly, slowly slipped his hand into his pocket, and found the familiar smooth edge of the orange stone he treasured so much.

_Onegai _(Please)!

"Say good-bye, _Kune_."

_Lend me your power, MIKAN!_

* * *

**Another cliff-hanger! Awesome-ness! I really liked this chapter, it was nice and long. 3,570 words, people! Hontoni… HAPPY-desu! laughs I hope you guys liked it too, please review! Any questions, please ask!**

**More Reviews**

** More Happiness **

** More Motivation **

** More Ideas **

** More Writing **

** More Updating **

** More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Freeshooter**

**Dominiqueanne**

**Pukite**

**Jazzflame**

**Chzze**

**Alwaysbtheir**

** Thanks guys, you are pure awesome! **

'**til next time…**

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

_"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM_


	3. Chapter 3: Regretted Song

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**This chapter has a song in it, so that's why it's a little longer than usual. Hope you all enjoy, and please review the story!**

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese, or a flashback/thought.

**A/N: **Author's Note

* * *

_**Previously…**_

_**I'm going to die. **_**Kune shut his eyes.**

_**You are **_**not**_** going to die, BAKAYARO, the stone, THE STONE! **_**The voice seemed to come back.**

**Kune wanted to open his eyes in surprise, but didn't want Shinto to think he was planning something. He slowly, slowly slipped his hand into his pocket, and found the familiar smooth edge of the orange stone he treasured so much.**

_**Onegai **_**(Please)!**

"**Say good-bye, **_**Kune**_**."**

_**Lend me your power, MIKAN!**_

* * *

▬_Chapter Three: Regretted Song▬_

An ear-splitting scream cut through the air like a sharp knife. A man and a boy both collapsed on the stairs. Kune was panting heavily, trying to catch his breath. Shinto, however, was still screaming, clutching his hand in pain as it turned a shade of dark red, then brown, then black.

Shinto stared at his rotting hand, as if not believing his eyes…

"You… _you…_" Shinto winced and moaned again, "You _akuma _(Devil)!" Shinto suddenly lunged at Kune.

It took all of Kune's strength to swipe his hand over Shinto's head and dodge to the right.

_Haaaa… _Shinto's head burst into angry red flames.

"AHHHHHH!" Shinto was trying to put the fire in his hair out, when suddenly, as if his batteries died, he froze and stumbled backwards. His clumsy movements caused him to trip on the stairs, one after another, falling down the spiraling staircase… and then a _thud_.

Kune's eyes unfocused for a second, then remembered what he still needed to accomplish. He raced down the stairs, now knowing that the other way was a dead end. As he passed Shinto's bleeding body, he closed his eyes and tried not to think about his feet soaking wet with Shinto's blood from the stairs…

* * *

"Mikan-chan!"

"Nn?" 16-year-old Mikan, who was walking down the halls of the school turned around and saw 17-year-old Yuu Tobita, who was attempting to balance the Leaning Tower of Piza Books.

"Iinchou! What do you need?" Mikan hurried to Yuu lessening his massive load.

"_Arigatou, _Mikan-chan! _Jitsuwa_ (Actually)… I was wondering if you could do my a huge favor." Yuu patted his forehead with his 3-star handkerchief.

"Eh? Of course, sure! What is it?" Mikan smiled as she carried half of the books to a classroom, with Yuu trailing behind.

"Well, my friend wanted to know if you could help them with the talent show," Yuu replied.

"Well, of course, of course! I'm not good with heights, so I can't hang the high stuff, but I'm good at making posters, and—"

"Ano…" Yuu interrupted nervously, "Actually, one of their participants, a singer, backed out on the last minute, and so they have an open spot that they have to fill. I wanted to know… if you could…?"

Mikan looked taken aback. "_A-a-atashi _(Me)?"

"_Mochirou-desu _(Of course)! Your singing is amazing, Mikan-chan!"

"I don't know… about that…" Mikan replied, embarrassed. They set their books down on the classroom shelf and walked out into the hallway.

"_Onegai_ (Please), Mikan-chan! Just this time… my friend really needs your help, without it, the Talent Show wouldn't be a success!" Yuu, on accident, created an illusion with _kawaii_ (cute) puppies staring at Mikan with their big eyes.

"Iinchou! Stop that!" Mikan sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll do it."

Yuu's illusion immediately vanished. "_Honton_ (Really)? I better go tell them at once! Oh, and choose a song to sing tonight! _Ganbare _(Good luck)!"

With that, Yuu Tobita ran off immediately before Mikan could change her mind. Mikan sighed again, then walked in the direction of her room.

_A song to sing…_

* * *

Crouching low, Kune hid behind a huge pillar and spied on the two men talking.

"_Heard about…_"

"_Not really interesting…"_

"_Hungry… want to go eat?"_

Kune exhaled. So the news of his escape did not reach the others yet.

_So far, so good._ Kune thought, when suddenly, an excruciating pain came from his ankle.

_Damn, I need to fix this thing_…

He gasped when a woman walked into view. She looked exactly like Mikan, but with a different hair-style and color. Was it…?

The men nodded at the women respectively. "Yuka."

"How do you do." Yuka said curtly, before shifting her eyes a little toward Kune's direction.

Kune stiffened, and flattened himself even more on the pillar. His heart rate sped up.

Yuka lips parted a little bit, as if she was going to say something… but then closed them and went inside the building.

Kune inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. _I've got to hurry._

Suddenly, he saw another woman appear into view. Kune darted back into his hiding place in a flash.

"Ano… did you just see something?" The woman's voice was a little high-pitched, but as smooth as honey, and very calm.

"_Ie _(No), Kahoko-sama. If you shall excuse us, we have some business to attend to." The men bowed and walked away.

Kune rolled his eyes. _The 'business' probably meant they're going to indulge on food. And why the heck did they call her 'sama'?_

(**A/N: **'Sama' is in higher respect than 'Senpai', but lower than 'Domo')

"Oh!" One of the men who walked away called back. "Injured man to cure at C-18! Forgot to tell you! Boss says to go heal him ASAP, guess he's important."

The woman, named Kahoko, nodded and was about to hurry inside when she saw a trail of blood coming from a pillar.

_Shibata _(Shit)! Kune thought immediately, thinking of someway to escape.

_Wait… the ugly man said to go 'heal' the injured… does she have the Healing Alice? _Kune saw the woman coming closer to him. _Gotta try._

Kune slowly crawled out of his hiding place, and Kahoko gasped. Kune hoped she didn't know he was supposed to be a prisoner.

"_Kowai-sou _(Poor thing)! Come here!"

Kune ignored her and kept on going. The woman ended up running to him. "Hey—"

"Don't touch me." Kune growled, red eyes blazing.

The woman looked taken aback, but softened her eyes and cooed, "You need help. Let me heal you, it'll just take a second okay?"

Kune widened his eyes. _Was this some trick? Or is she always this dumb…and nice?_

Before he knew what was happening, Kune felt Kahoko's hand touch his wounds gently, and he felt happy… he remembered a pair of soft hands like this…

"There. See, it wasn't so bad!" Kahoko stood up and helped Kune up to his feet. Kune looked into her face… she reminded him of her… so stupid and dumb.

_But nice._

* * *

"Waaaah!" Mikan threw her hands above her head, leaning back on her computer chair and slouching.

"What song should I pick?" Mikan tried to keep control, but to her credit, she spent a full 60 minutes searching up songs she knew on the Internet, and rejecting all of them one by one.

"The love songs I know just don't _fit_ Ruka and me. UGH! _Douuuuuuuushite (_Whyyyyy)? And Hotaru will kill me if I sing a song about us."

Mikan swiveled her chair towards the window and looked at the beautiful valley view. Her eyes unfocused as she stared…

"_Natsume! What did you get for number 19?" I skipped over to Natsume, who was quietly "reading his manga" when I knew he was just sleeping._

"_Do your own homework, Mizutama _(Polka-dots)_," he replied grumpily, before sleeping again._

_I pouted, with my fists clenched to my sides; I hated that stupid jerk! I was just trying to ask him nicely! I can't believe I kissed him! I can't believe I'm his girlfriend!_

"_NEVERMIND, then, you arrogant, selfish, perverted—hey! WHERE ARE YOU GOING, YOU JERK? DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME… HEY! COME BACK HERE!"_

_I felt a killing aura come out of me when I saw Natsume ignoring me as he walked out the classroom door, with Ruka following him and giving me an apologetic look._

"_Fine!" I gritted my teeth and sat down with a flourish. "I don't care what he does."_

"_Ne, ne, Mikan-chan! What's your relationship with Natsume?" Nonoko popped up in front of me and grinned "knowingly"._

"_What do you mean?" I rolled my eyes._

"_Well, you guys don't seem to get along, even though you guys love each other," Anna winked._

_I felt like I wanted to gag. "Don't use the 'love' word. God, it makes me want to gag when I think that I love him. I only 'like' him, okay?" I, too, stood up and walked out of the classroom._

_The moment I walked out, however, I felt someone pull my wrist and drag me to who-knows-where. To my surprise, it was Natsume._

"_What are you doing? Let go!"_

"_Just shut up, Ichigo-kara _(Strawberry Print)."

_I wondered what the hell was going on as I let him drag me outside the school building and to the Sakura tree._

* * *

"_What do you want, Natsume?" I crossed my arms on my chest and looked at him expectantly._

"_I… I'm going on a mission tomorrow." Natsume's eyes were hidden under the shadow of his bangs._

"_What does that I have to do with me?"_

"_Are you still mad at me about the stupid homework problem?"_

"_Does it matter? We're always like this. I'm so tired of understanding you. One minute you hate me, ignore me, call me names, and the next you're kissing me and calling me 'Mikan'. I don't get you, and I don't think I want to try anymore."_

_I saw Natsume close his eyes, his mouth opened, as if he wanted to explain something really complicated to me. He suddenly closed his mouth suddenly and looked up._

"_My mission, it's top-class dangerous, and I just want to tell you that I might be gone for a while."_

"_Oh, is that so?" _

_I sounded sarcastically mean, but in truth, a million thoughts were running through my head, but I still did not speak. A couple significant ones were: _

_Why didn't you tell me earlier?_

_Why do you have to go?_

_How long will it take?_

_Will you come back?_

_What if you don't?_

"_I see," I said slowly._

"_Jaa _(See you)._ That's all I wanted to say."_

"_Wait!" I blurted suddenly. My hands flew up to my mouth as he turned around slowly and stared at me with an unreadable expression._

"_I…"_

"_Don't leave me, Natsume, please! Promise you'll be back?" was want I wanted to say. But I slowly closed my eyes and sighed. "Nothing," was what I ended up saying._

_I blinked back tears as I watched his figure slip out of my sight…_

* * *

Mikan jerked her gaze from her window and onto her computer. She realized her tears were brimming on the side of her eyes, even though no tears fell on her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away and clicked a few buttons on her computer.

"I think I have a song to sing now…"

* * *

Kune left Kahoko after that. She didn't ask me any nosy questions, and he was grateful. Feeling 200 better than before, he ran off in search of the Academy.

Problem was, he didn't know where the hell I was. Kune looked for street signs, and saw one. "Harajuku Street."

_Harajuku Street? The famous fashion street? _Kune wondered. It was a start.

"Oi. Do you know where Alice Academy is?" Kune roughly grabbed hold of a random man's arm.

"Alice Academy? You're _far, far_ away from it boy. I suggest you take Bus #8 at the station over there and get off when you're at Alice Academy. They take tourists to the Academy. Now will you let go of me?" The man violently shook Kune off and stomped away, fuming that he wasted 1 minute of his time answering such a stupid question. He felt a little weird though, as if his body was lighter than usual…

Kune was already rushing off to the nearest bus station, a certain someone's heavy wallet in his hands.

* * *

"Mikan! You're late!" A man's whiny voice teased.

Mikan, who just walked backstage of the talent show, looked at the blonde-haired man who just talked to her. "Narumi-sensei!"

"So you said yes? _Perfection!_ Now, let's see… what are you going to sing…" Narumi scanned the page in his hands. "Oh! Great song… Mikan-chan… are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Mikan nodded confidently. "_Hai. Dai-jou-bu _(I'll be alright)!"

"That's the spirit!" Narumi hugged Mikan. "I have to go tell your accompanists about their sheet music, I'll be back soon, 'kay? Meanwhile, go to Misaki, she'll do your make-up."

Mikan choked. "_Make-up?_"

"Yes, of course! I want to beautify Mikan-chan 'til she reaches goddess perfection!" a voice replied behind her.

Mikan whirled around and saw Misaki-senpai grinning at her, dressed very fashionably, twirling her make-up brush through her fingers absentmindedly. Her pink hair had a fresh blowout. "Come on, we haven't got much time to make you fabilicious!" she exclaimed as she ushered Mikan into the make-up room.

* * *

_Ffffwaaaaa… fffwaaaaa…_

The buildings passed the bus one by one.

Kune pressed his hands against the bus's windows as he looked outside. He couldn't believe he was going to finally come back…

It's been too long…

* * *

"So, what's going on between Ruka and you? Tell all." Misaki lifted her mascara wand and carefully but efficiently applied the dark powder to Mikan's long eyelashes.

Mikan, trying her hardest not to blink, replied, "Well, it's okay. You know, the usual. We fight sometimes, but they're not very serious."

"Oh, I see." Misaki put down the mascara and unscrewed a bottle of shimmering pink lipgloss. She held it up to Mikan's lips. "Forgive me for asking, but… can I ask you about Natsume?"

Mikan blinked. Her eyes started filling up…

"Oh no! No, forget it! MIKAN! No, no, stop crying!" Misaki looked very alarmed.

"You're mascara's gonna to run, honey!" Misaki hurriedly prepared some Kleenex tissues.

Despite herself, Mikan started laughing. "You're so funny, Misaki-senpai!"

Misaki sighed, hand over her heart. "I'm serious, you're going to give me a heart failure one day, Mikan!"

"But, I don't really want to talk about him." Mikan stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Misaki nodded. "Okay."

_Will you be alright, Mikan?_

* * *

An hour passed by…

Kune was still on the bus. He wouldn't arrive at Alice Academy for another 3 hours. He made himself comfortable and drifted off to sleep.

"_Does it matter? We're always like this. I'm so tired of understanding you. One minute you hate me, ignore me, call me names, and the next you're kissing me and calling me 'Mikan'. I don't get you, and I don't think I want to try anymore."_

_I felt like my heart had holes, and all of it was leaking out. I never thought about it that way. Did she really hate me that much? I decided to tell her straight out._

"_My mission, it's top-class dangerous, and I just want to tell you that I might be gone for a while."_

"_Oh, is that so?" _

_I looked into her face. She seemed to be thinking. Probably all the wonderful things she could do without me around._

"_I see," she said._

"_Jaa. That's all I wanted to say." I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to get away. How could one girl hurt me that much? I thought it wasn't possible… but then I met her, and everything changed._

"_Wait!" She called. I saw her hands fly up to her mouth, as if she shouldn't have said that. Inside, I was begging her to continue, to tell me that she wanted me to stay, that she loved me. Then, I would say I loved her too, and everything would be alright._

"_I… nothing." _

"_I see how it is," I murmured silently to myself as I walked away._

_On the day I left, I didn't see Mikan anywhere. She probably hated me. I knew it was my fault. I treated her like she was dirt, made fun of her panties, and… the line that broke my heart:_

"_I'm so tired of understanding you…"_

* * *

"Testing, testing, 1-2-3," Mikan spoke into the microphone. She was on the talent show stage, preparing for her first rehearsal. She was really nervous, because she only got to practice once before the live show. The other participants got to rehearse 4 times over the course of 3 weeks.

_Oh well. Gotta wing it, then._ Mikan thought, while humming the song softly to herself.

Narumi ran up to the stage and looked up and Mikan, who was gripping the microphone nervously in her sweaty hands. "Okay, Mikan-chan! You'll be the last to perform tonight, so when you go on stage, say a little speech, then nod and we'll cue your music for you!"

Mikan nodded a little too much.

Narumi's eyes softened. "Are you nervous, Mikan-chan?"

"HAI!" Mikan blurted loudly.

Narumi chuckled softly. "Don't worry. As long you sing with emotion to whoever you're singing for, I know you will be amazing."

Mikan smiled sadly. "Arigatou, _Otou-san_ (Daddy)."

"We're ready for the music, in a-3. a-2, and a- 1…"

_Whoever you're singing for…_

* * *

"Welcome to the 20th annual Gakuen Alice Talent Show!" The host, who happened to be Ruka, waited for the audience to die down. "I'm Ruka Nogi, and standing right here with me is Hotaru Imai."

Hotaru didn't look too happy. Mikan was supposed to host with Ruka, but since she had to do the talent show, Hotaru took her place, being the "caring" friend she was. She was wearing a simple black blouse, while Ruka looked very professional with his crisp tuxedo.

"We hope you enjoy tonight's show, and now, with our first participant…" Hotaru and Ruka stepped off the stage…

* * *

The audience applauded politely after Sumire, the second to last participant, finished singing.

"This year's show SUCKS, man."

"Tell me about it. A bunch of singing wannabes, no real potential whatsoever."

"OMG, I agree! Not _one_ single real talent on there!"

"I shouldn't have spent my rabbits on this crap of a show."

"I should've known. If it's Narumi, it's bad."

_Oh my god. _Mikan clutched her stomach as the butterfly mob struck again. _I can't believe this is happening._

She was sitting in the waiting lounge backstage of the talent show. She overheard a bunch of students' discussion when they walked out the auditorium. Did this year's show really suck?

_I'll just make it worse…_

"Mikan! You're up after this one. Get ready."

Mikan nodded. She looked down at the mini-speech she hastily wrote. _I can I really do this?_

"No. I can't. But I have to, for my sake…"

She heard the faint applause of the audience onstage. Her stomach clenched, and she hugged her knees to her chest. On the outside, she was a "fabilicious goddess", according to Misaki, wearing a simple dress over a pair of sequin jeans, but still looked glamorous times 10. Her brown hair was in a high ponytail, with a few loose strands coming down. Mikan wanted to go in sandals, but Misaki practically slapped her and forced her to wear a pair of high-heels to match her dress.

But that was the outside. Never judge a person on the outside, you will get them all wrong, 99 of the time. Inside, Mikan was a hell of an emotional wreck.

"And last, but definitely not least, is my girlfriend, Mikan Sakura!" Ruka announced.

Mikan's head shot up. _He. Did. NOT just say that. _Mikan blushed furiously and stood up from her comfy chair in the waiting lounge. She rolled her shoulders back and held her head high.

"Enjoy our last performance."

Mikan exhaled through her mouth slowly, then, microphone grasped in hand, and the clack of her heels, she walked on stage and faced the massive, unhappy, audience.

She felt her chest tighten as she felt 300 pairs of eyes staring at her. "H-Hi, _miina_ (everyone), my name is Mikan Sakura…" she murmured, small post-it note that held her script in front of her face.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"I CAN'T SEE YOU!"

Mikan looked up, startled, and her fear was shown in her eyes. She saw Hotaru come up from the side of the stage. She faced her, surprised. Was Hotaru going to do a duet with her?

_That would be awesome! _Mikan thought hopefully.

Those hopes were ripped into shreds as Hotaru snatched her speech paper in front of everyone and ripped it up.

"No one can see your ugly face behind that, _baka,"_ she muttered as she ran off stage once more.

Mikan's hands were shaking, now that she had nothing to hold onto.

She cleared her throat.

One audience member yawned.

Mikan fiddled with her dress.

She thought she heard somebody snoring in the audience.

"H-h-hi, my name is, um, Mikan Sakura-desu." Mikan spoke quietly into the microphone.

_I can't do this._

Suddenly, she saw Anna, Koko, Nonoko, and You-chan's faces in the crowd, raising "GO MIKAN" banners and cheering. She felt a surge of happiness in her heart, closed her eyes, and continued.

"Actually, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm just a replacement for a participant who was supposed to perform." Mikan saw Narumi wave like a maniac, probably to tell her she was not supposed to say that, but Mikan just looked up and smiled.

"So, I decided to sing this song, for a person that I hated, love, and lost."

Ruka gasped. Hotaru stared at Mikan from the side of the stage.

Mikan closed her eyes slowly again. "Please listen to, Regret by Mai Hoshimura."

The lights dimmed, and the guitar accompanist started playing.

(**A/N: **Romanji is in **bold**, Translations are in _italics_, Mikan's thoughts are in parenthesis)

**Mado no soto no keshiki utsuri kawatte**_  
The landscape outside the window shows a gushing river  
_**Kisetsu made ga atashi wo oiteku**_  
Even the season is leaving me behind_

(I felt my heart leaking, as the seasons passed by, fall, winter, spring, summer… and still he hasn't come back…)

**Dare yori chikaku ni ite fuan no tame ni  
**_I was closer to you than anyone, because of my insecurity_**  
doushite ano tokikizu kenakatta  
**_Why didn't I realize it at that time?_

(Everyone said I was very close to you, I was ignorant and denied it, my excuse was that I hated you… why didn't I realize it?)

**Anata no sugata ga mienaku naru mae ni  
**_Your figure slipped out of my sight before me_

_(I blinked back tears as you slipped from my sight… it was the last time I would see you before you left, yet I still yelled at you… said I didn't understand you…)_

**tatta no tatta hito koto**_  
I didn't say_**  
Ikanaide ga ienakatta**_  
The only, single thing I wanted to – "Don't leave me"_

_(_I wanted to say "Don't leave me" and "Promise you'll be back?", but, I ended up saying nothing…)

"**Anata ga shiawase nara sore de"  
**_"If you're happy, then it's alright"_

**Ii nante zettai ni ienai**_  
That I can never say  
_**Nejima ga ata konna kokoro ga  
**_Your heart is mixed up_**  
Doushiyouwo mo nai kurai  
**_I don't know what to do_**  
Atashi wa kirai **_**  
**__I hate it so much_

**Tanjoubi ni moratta 'initial ring'  
**_The 'initial ring' I received on my birthday_  
**Omoi dase batsurai dake na no ni  
**_It's only painful if I remember it_

_(I thought you said we will be together always… why did you leave? Left, without a trace… only our Alice proposal stones left behind…)  
_  
**Ima sara wakatta no wa omou ijou ni  
**_What I knew at this late hour is that this is all I'm thinking about:_  
**"Anata wo hitsuyou doushiteta koto?"  
**_"Why is it that I needed you?"_

(Why did I need you, Natsume? I know the answer now… I love you)

**Futari de kidzuita chikasa e kowasu youni  
**_The two of us noticed the break approaching our closeness_  
**Kokoro to urahara ni detekita kotoba ajikenai "Sayonara"**_**  
**__Unlike what the heart said, the words were dull - "Goodbye"_

_(If I knew you would not come back, I would have said Good-bye the day you left… but I was stubborn and stupid…)_

**Anata ga sugoku kou kai suru  
**_You regret it greatly_  
**Sonna higa kuru koto no sonderu  
**_The hurting, unkind hand of when such a day comes_

_**Ijiwaru te**_** minikui kokoro ga**_**  
**__And, it will tease the ugly heart when it's here  
_**Kinou youni wo motto atashi wa kirai  
**_This ugly soul, like yesterday, I hate it even more_

(I hate this life without you, Natsume… I hate the broken promises lingering in my mind… I hate having to move on in life without you…)

Mikan blinked, and realized the song was over, and, moreover, she was crying!

Not the "watery-eye" kind of crying, not the "tears-almost-falling-out" kind of crying either. No, it was the "Omigod-my-mascara-is-running-I-look-like-a-friggin-raccoon" kind of crying.

But Mikan was happy. Happier than she felt in a long, long time.

As the audience gave her a standing ovation with thunderous applause. Everyone was shocked, and amazed. All of the girls had shining tears sliding down their cheeks. The boys' mouths were open, some of the girly-ones had watery-eyes.

Seeing all this, Mikan bowed and lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

"Did you hear that, Natsume?"

* * *

**See? No cliffhanger this time… I'm so proud of myself. LOLZ, just kidding. Um, well… did you like it? I decided I will put some of my favorite songs that fit this story in some of my chapters… to put more emotion in it, you know? Anyway, Regret by Mai Hoshimura is a great song, also the 7****th**** ending of D-Gray Man. To listen to it, just go to Youtube and type in Regret by Mai Hoshimura, and get the longest one you can find, not the one-minute one. I also made a fandub for this song, but I'm not gonna tell you where to find it! (Laughs evilly) Try to guess yourself, alright? The clues are all there for you.**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**o3o2g.ash**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**Pukite**

**Dominiqueanne**

**Neko yuki**

**Alwaysbtheir**

**PichiPitch**

** Thanks guys, for reviewing, you are the best! **

'**til next time…**

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	4. Chapter 4: The Howalon Box

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Hi everyone! It's Vanilla here again, ready to kick off Chapter 4! Please review if you find it interesting! All reviews welcome… but flames might hurt my feelings, just a teeny bit. (smiley face)**

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

* * *

_**Previously…**_

**Mikan blinked, and realized the song was over, and, moreover, she was crying!**

**Not the "watery-eye" kind of crying, not the "tears-almost-falling-out" kind of crying either. No, it was the "Omigod-my-mascara-is-running-I-look-like-a-friggin-raccoon" kind of crying.**

**But Mikan was happy. Happier than she felt in a long, long time.**

**As the audience gave her a standing ovation with thunderous applause. Everyone was shocked, and amazed. All of the girls had shining tears sliding down their cheeks. The boys' mouths were open, some of the girly-ones had watery-eyes.**

**Seeing all this, Mikan bowed and lifted her eyes to the ceiling.**

"**Did you hear that, Natsume?"**

* * *

▬_Chapter Four: The Howalon Box ▬_

"Alice Academy, stop #47."

Kune was jerked from his sleep at the sound of the loudspeaker. He quickly stood up.

A man sitting in the front row reading a newspaper looked up and Kune. "You getting off here?"

Kune barely nodded before walking past the man rudely.

"I'm telling you, you should use your _yen _(Japanese Money Currency) on something more worthwhile. There's nothing to see since they don't let regular people in the Academy."

Kune lazily turned his head and called over his shoulder, "But I'm no regular person," before jumping off the bus steps and onto the concrete sidewalk.

The bus doors slammed close and sped off. Kune's back prickled. Right behind him, was Alice Academy.

This was his chance to go back… to where he belonged…

_Why am I hesitating?_

Kune turned around and stared at the menacing gates.

_Was it really the right choice to come here? I haven't seen everyone in 4 years… what if everything's changed, and I don't belong?_

"Tch. What the hell," he dismissed his thoughts with a flimsy wave of his hand as he used the orange colored stone to nullify the barrier over the gate, and the alert system.

"Wow, she really put her true powers into this." Kune tossed the stone in his hand a couple times.

He passed the familiar parallel lines of green trees, and stopped in his tracks.

"Whoa." Kune felt his mind spin wildly. "What the hell happened here?"

He felt immediately out of place. Everything wasn't what he was used to. The office main building wasn't straight ahead like it use to be, and everything… was different.

"Hey, what are you doing, standing there? Get to your room already. Shouldn't you be watching the talent show? And for God's sake, where is your _uniform_?" A guard holding a scary-looking stick towered over Kune with suspicious eyes.

"Hn." Kune stuffed his hands into his pockets and strolled off in a different direction.

"Oi! I'm asking you about your uniform?" The guard struggled to catch up with Kune's speeding pace.

Kune started running. _Where the hell am I going? _Suddenly, he saw a place where there were lights everywhere and people bustling around.

_I won't be found easily in a crowd of people._ Kune ran full-throttle into the crowd.

"Damn it, where did he go?" The confused guard looked back and forth. "Oh well." He walked off to his original post.

Kune exhaled. "I need a uniform, or else I can't blend in." He searched around. Straight ahead was a sign: "Swimming Lessons: Boy's Locker Room."

Kune's eyebrows raised up, and he walked over and slowly opened the door.

(**A/N: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?)**

_Perfect._ Gakuen Alice boy uniforms were scattered everywhere. Natsume grabbed a size that seemed right for him and was about to walk away when he thought of something.

_I'm in the High-School Division now… I can't take Junior-High uniforms anymore._ He quickly replaced the JH uniform with a HS one and tried it on.

He felt really awkward wearing a uniform again, after only wearing torn up clothes for the past 4 years.

_Not too shabby_… he admired himself in the mirror. "But one last thing…"

He unloosened his tie so it hung limply around his shoulder. Then he pushed the door open and sauntered out into the bustling streets.

_This must be Central Town… _he passed many stores full of wondrous inventions and products. _So nostalgic…_

"And here's a recap on tonight's best performance in the Gakuen Alice talent show!"

The massive TV screens in Central Town flickered on and showed a beautiful brunette girl's flawless face, microphone in hand, singing a sweet, sad melody…

**(A/N: Regret, as you know from the last chapter, is in Japanese, but I'm going to write the translation here to make her words more understanding…)**

"_The landscape outside the window shows a gushing river, even the season is leaving me behind…"_

Kune closed his eyes. The haunting melody… where was it from again?

"_Your figure slipped out of my sight before me, I didn't say_, _the only, single thing I wanted to – "Don't leave me…"_

"Mikan… where are you? I need to see you again…" Kune's mouth was pulled into a frown.

Kune finally looked up into the blue, blue sky, and caught side of one TV screen.

"_The 'initial ring' I received on my birthday, it's only painful if I remember it…"_

"_What I knew at this late hour is that this is all I'm thinking about: 'Why is it that I needed you?'"_

_Kune nearly dropped to his knees, because they turned into jelly. But his eyes never left the girl on the TV screen._

_You regret it greatly, the hurting, unkind hand of when such a day comes,__ it will tease the ugly heart when it's here…"_

"Mikan…" Kune whispered. He wanted to yell out her name and cry, cry, cry like there's no tomorrow, but he kept his emotions intact, and his face revealed nothing.

"_This ugly soul, like yesterday, I hate it even more…" __Mikan, on the screen, smiled, tears glistening on her face. Then, she looked up at the ceiling. Her mouth moved, but no sound was picked up by the microphone._

_  
_Kune read her lips and sank to the ground. "I heard it, Polka…"

* * *

"And that concludes our perfor—"

"ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!" The audience's chants and hollers were deafening.

Mikan, still on stage, pressed her hand against her mouth. She couldn't believe it…

_They liked it? And… they want an encore? From _me?

She saw a flash of movement, and looked on the side of the stage. Misaki was waving her hands frantically.

_What?_ Mikan cocked her head to the right.

Misaki stomped her foot, pointed to her lips, and shook her head.

_Oh! _Mikan rolled her eyes and removed her hand from her mouth. Misaki gave her "counseling" before she went on stage. Rule Number 15 was to "never touch your lips, because you will smudge your gloss".

Hotaru glanced at Mikan, who shook her head. Hotaru nodded curtly and spoke into the microphone. "I'm sorry, but we have to close the show tonight. Hope you enjoyed, and look forward to another show during the Hana Dance coming up."

"Today there are no classes, so feel free to do whatever." Ruka's smooth voice stifled the remaining shouts of the audience. Everyone was somewhat satisfied, and started filing out, not before running to Mikan and saying:

"OmigoshyouweresoAWWWESOME!"

"Hey, wanna go out with me?"

"MIKAN-SAMA, can I get your autograph?"

"Autograph please!"

"Onegai… autograph, Sakura-san?"

"Go out with me, Mikan-hime!"

"You can sing in my room _anytime_, Sakura-san."

"You weren't as good as me, you bitch!"

Mikan's head was whirling by the time she rejected the proposals, slapped the perverts, signed the autographs, thanked all her fans, and unleashed them onto Sumire.

Then, she sauntered away, anxious to get in her bed and sleep through the day.

That _was_ her plan, but it was interrupted when Ruka grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Great job, Mikan," he whispered into her hair.

Mikan blushed furiously and whispered back, "_Arigatou_, Ruka…"

Ruka smiled, but something else was troubling his mind. And it had Hyuuga's name on it. "Wanna go hit Central Town together?" Ruka stared intensely at Mikan's chocolate-pool colored eyes.

Mikan, drowned in Ruka's crystal-ocean blue eyes, nodded.

Ruka let go of Mikan and took her hand. "Let's go."

* * *

"Are you okay?" a girl bent down, looking at a boy slumped against the wall, with his head down.

Kune looked up coldly and sent her a glare.

"A-a-sorry…" the girl, freaked out, backed off and walked away, but still mesmerized by his amazing messy raven-colored hair and aloof personality.

"_Ne, ne!_ Look over there!"

"Ehmagawd, he's so handsome!"

"Who is he?"

"He's wearing the high-school uniform."

Squeals of joy.

"I love older guys. So mature."

"You better back off, bitch. I'm going for him."

"Oh-no-you-didn't, _I'm _going for him."

Soon, a catfight started with shrieking girls and angry hair-pulling.

"What the--" Kune suddenly became alarmingly aware of the screaming girls a few yards away.

_Dammit, can't a guy get a second of peace?_

Kune slowly got up as he curled his lip in disgust. Totally ignoring the girls that were flashing their love-struck eyes and fluttering their mascara-caked eyelashes, Kune walked off in the opposite direction.

"Eh?? _Matte _(Wait)! Ah—" The girls started to run after him, but stopped. One particular girl with black-hair put her hands on her hips and turned around to face the hoard of fangirls.

She twirled one of her curly strands of her hair. "Anyone know who he is?" she barked at the high-school division girls.

Everyone, including the HS students, shook their heads. "No, President Sumire," they replied robotically.

Sumire turned so everyone wouldn't see what she was thinking. _It's already weird enough that I, a high school student and President of the Hawt Boy Club, don't know him, even though he's also in high school! Nobody else knows him too…_

(**A/N: WTH to the "Hawt Boy Club" thing… that sounds so stupid, but… LOL I guess I come up with stupid names anyway. The only thing that makes me feel better is that Sumire is the president of this stupid little club I made… (giggles)**

"I love mysterious guys, totally my type," Sumire said to herself, and on her face was a smug smile.

* * *

"Mikan, wanna go eat some Howalons?"

Mikan brightened and flashed a genuine smile. "Of course! Let's go!" She grabbed Ruka's hand and nimbly weaved her way in and out of the crowd, and finally arrived at the Howalon store.

"Awwww…" Mikan's face fell. "There's such a long line, Ruka-pyon!"

Ruka blushed. Mikan used to call him Ruka-pyon before they were a couple, but now, she only calls him that when she wants to be playful.

_And cute_. Ruka added silently.

"It's okay, we can wait here for a while." Ruka smiled at Mikan, wanting to see her blush. But to his dismay, his girl merely turned her head and skipped into the line.

_Stop being paranoid, Ruka! She's already yours, what more could you ask for?_ Ruka scolded himself inside his mind.

Ruka stepped into line and slipped his hand over Mikan's narrow waist. Mikan blushed a little, then stared ahead, as if thinking about something.

"But is she truly, only mine?"

Ruka glanced over at Mikan's sweet, gorgeous face. She was all a man could ask for.

_I wonder what she's thinking about right now…_

* * *

"_Please! _Onegai!"

_Natsume glanced at me, down on my knees in front of him with utter amusement. "I thought I've already done you a big favor _last time_, little girl?"_

_I sniffed and crossed my arms. "That was when I was a _no-star_! I _had_ to take a partner with me!"_

_Natsume smirked. "And now you're a one-star… you just love me that much, don't you?"_

_I clenched my fists and shot back, "It's because I got detention today, and I really really want to go to Central Town… Jin-Jin said I could go, but I have to bring my partner! Please, please come with me!"_

"_Ii-eh _(No)_. Ikuzo _(Let's go), _Ruka." I watched Natsume strut out of the classroom, with Ruka trailing behind._

(**A/N: This memory is **_**before**_** Natsume kissed Mikan, before all the girlfriend vs. boyfriend thing.)**

"_Matte! I'll do anything to go!" I stretched out a hand, motioning him to stop._

_Natsume slowly turned around. His face was bored. "Oh, really?"_

"_Is this a challenge?" I eyed him with determination._

"_Who'd want to challenge, _you_, Mizu-tama? But I'll take up on your offer."_

_I couldn't believe it. "Hontoni _(Really)?" _I chirped._

"_Yeah." Natsume nodded, and almost looked kind for a second. "In return, you have to be my slave for 1 week."_

_My mouth dropped wide open. I've been his slave for one day before, but never… "SEVEN DAYS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I exploded._

"_Fine, fine then. Forget about Central Town." Natsume started walking away, hands in his pockets._

_I bet his face had a conceited smirk on it. That STUPID RATHOLE. Forcing me to be his slave when today was a special day for me. Not that he'd care, of course._

"_FIIIIIINNNE! I'll do it. See you at 2." I immediately left the classroom, not wanting to give him any chance to tease me even more than he already did._

_**Later…**_

"_So you really came, Hyuuga?" I jumped from the bench I was standing on, and walked over to him and eyed him._

_One word to summarize his looks: Cool. _

"_Hn," was all he said before walking off._

"_Hey! Where are you going?" I ran after him and grabbed his shirt sleeve._

"_You never said I had to stay with you the entire time, stupid. So I'm going on my own. Bye."_

"_Heyyyyy! You ARE NOT leaving!" I held tight onto his sleeve and dragged him in another direction._

"_What the—let go of me, NOW." His eyes darkened._

"_No, I won't! You came all the way here, might as well come with me."_

_I felt something hot on my hand and rolled my eyes. I immediately nullified the growing fireball in his hand and laughed._

"_You can use that trick on other people, but not me!" I stuck my tongue out at him while giggling. I grabbed, this time, his hand, and made a beeline to the Howalon store._

"_Aw… there's such a long line!" I pouted, sticking my lower lip out._

"_Stop that, you look even uglier when you do that." Natsume looked down at my hand, which was grasping his._

_I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch for a millisecond. _

Did I just see a smile?_ I wondered._

_After 9 minutes of line waiting, I was getting really impatient. I jumped around, hoping to find something to occupy me, but nothing caught my interest._

_Natsume didn't look too happy either. Being stuck in a crowded line to a candy store wasn't his type of thing, and everyone could tell by the look on his face, and how he was flexing his hand, fireball appearing, then disappearing, appearing, then disappearing, but still growing bigger and bigger every time it appeared once more._

_The temperature of the line rose dramatically and people looked at Natsume uneasily._

_I, finally noticing what Natsume was doing, quickly nullified the heat and jumped off the line rail, which I was sitting on. "You're making everyone nervous, Natsume!" I smiled._

_He side-glanced at me, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the line._

"_Ch-ch-chotto MAATTTE _(W-w-wait)_! You're supposed to wait in line with me!" I panicked, but still staying in line. "Come back here, Na--Hyuuga!"_

_One couple waiting in the line behind us chuckled. "They're quite a cute couple, aren't they, Kazu-kun?" the girl said to her boyfriend next to her._

_I blushed furiously, turning a whooping 40 shades of red. The conceited jerk probably saw this, and smirked at me all the way across the street, which he was now standing on. He leaned against a poll and watched me, as if asking me: "What are you going to do now?"_

_I took a deep breath and counted to 5 silently in my head. I always knew I should've counted to ten, but, foolish me, I didn't. So when I opened my eyes, I crankily pushed my way out of the line and stomped over to Natsume. "YOU JERK, I really wanted that Howalon! I was almost there! YOU JERK!" I repeated, steam was practically coming out of my head._

_Natsume had no expression. He lowered his head and peered up at my face. "Then why did you come over here?"_

"_I did it because YOU stepped out of line, you jer—"_

"_You didn't _have_ to come after me, but you did," Natsume said smugly. "You just love me _that_ much, don't you, Ichigo-kara_ (Strawberry Print)."_ He raised his head with a smirk._

**(A/N: Suddenly, it becomes clear what Natsume was doing when he: "Lowered his head and peered up…" –evil laugh--)**

"_Na-na…" I widened my eyes._

"_NATSUME YOU--!" I flew at Natsume, fists ready to pummel._

_He ran away from me easily. He wasn't called Black Cat for nothing._

_Soon, he stopped running, because I practically died from running so fast in circles._

"_Hn." I soon felt something with a sharp corner poke at my back and I turned around grumpily._

"_WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW, HYUUGA?" I practically screamed._

"_I liked it better when you called me by my first name." Natsume smirked and thrust something in my face._

"_What's this?" Anger forgotten in an instant, I opened the lid of the beautifully wrapped box…_

_A familiar sweet aroma filled my nose. I turned to him._

"_Natsu—Natsume?" I looked around, but I couldn't find him._

_He was gone._

Natsume… where did he go? I want to thank him…_ I thought._

_I turned my attention back to the box. It was obviously a special kind. It was nothing like the small boxes that the Howalon store sold, this was pretty big, and wrapped with expensive ribbons, wrapping paper, and decorated with shiny bows and glitter._

_There was a small mountain of Howalon inside, and I couldn't help but drool. _

I wonder… how… why?_ I thought, taking a first bite. This was indeed nothing like the one I ate before. This one was more soft, melting, and sweet…_

"_Arigatou, Natsume… sometimes, I guess you're kind…"_

_I smiled. "Thank you for the birthday present, Na-tsu-me."_

* * *

"Next!"

Mikan stared off into space.

"NEXT!"

Ruka stepped forward. "One box, Special-size, please."

Mikan jolted awake. She smiled apologetically. "_Gomen_, Ruka, I don't have enough to pay…"

Ruka waved the problem off with a wave of his hand. "No problem, Mikan. It's on me." He handed one silver 50 rabbit coin to the cashier.

Mikan gasped. "_That_ much, Ruka? But… I can't…"

Ruka smiled and placed his warm hand on Mikan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, anything for you, _my_ Mikan."

Mikan's cheeks flushed and she stepped closer to Ruka.

"Here you go. Come again." The girl placed a box in Ruka's hands.

"_Arigato_." Ruka flashed her a smile.

"Ru-ru-ruka-sama!" the girl almost fainted.

Ruka stole a glance at Mikan, to see her reaction. She was smiling, but this was the only time Ruka wasn't happy about her smile.

He didn't know what came over him. Ruka suddenly came close to the girl handing out the bought Howalons.

"Ruka?" Mikan cocked her head to the side.

Ruka's brow furrowed with frustration. _What will it take to make her jealous?_

He grabbed the girl's hand and held it up to his face. "Are you alright, miss? It seems that I have caused…some disturbance."

"O-o-oh no, Ruka-sama!" The girls was blushing furiously, her whole face was beet red.

Ruka flashed her another smile. "I'm _so_ glad." With that, he brought his lips to her hand and kissed it.

Mikan's mouth opened.

* * *

_Crackle, crackle._

"Imai, where's your twenty. Over."

"Howalon Store. Behind Bushes. Over."

"Spot Target? Over."

"Target Spotted. Over."

"I'm coming. Over."

"Copy that. Over." Hotaru slipped her high-tec "Panda Talk" device in her pocket.

**(A/N: I was going to say "Walky-Talkie" like what it should be called, but Hotaru is **_**waaay**_** to high-tec for that cheesy name, don't you think?)**

_What the heck was Ruka doing with that girl? _Hotaru thought, quickly grabbing her binoculars.

Through the binoculars, she saw Ruka inch toward the girl. Suddenly, he side-glanced at Mikan.

Hotaru's eyes narrowed. _Was he doing this on purpose? For what reason?_

Eyes back to the binoculars, she saw Mikan smile at Ruka, making him very unsatisfied.

_Is he doing what I think he's doing…? _Hotaru watched Ruka kiss the girl's hand, making the ugly girl's face turn red as a tomato.

"Imai-san! There you are! I lost you!" Koko came running to Hotaru.

"It's your fault for coming here with me," Hotaru replied emotionlessly.

"Hey! But _you're_ the one who forced--"

"Be quiet. _Usagi _(Rabbit) boy's mind. Now."

"Alright, alright." Koko had a silly grin on his face, and he stared at Ruka in the distance for a while. Then, he chuckled.

"Let me guess, he's trying to make Mikan jealous, which isn't working."

"Right. But there's more, he's trying to do that because she thinks she still has Natsume on her mind. Except he calls him Hyuuga now, due to his undying hate for his best friend stealing his crush."

"But isn't Mikan his already?" Hotaru dropped the binoculars.

"He has his insecurities."

"…Mn." Hotaru stood up from her crouching position and brushed off the leaves on her pants.

"They're leaving! Look!" Koko suddenly stabbed his finger in the air.

Indeed, Ruka was dragging Mikan away from the crowd.

"_Iko _(Let's go), Koko." Hotaru hit a big red button on the arm-like contraption she was holding and it immediately grabbed Koko with its' fingers.

"WAAAAH!" were the last sounds people heard as Hotaru jumped on her scooter and flew away, with Koko dangling in the air next to her.

* * *

_Yes!_

Mikan's mouth was wide open, as if she couldn't believe it. She marched right up to Ruka.

Ruka pretended nothing was wrong. "What?"

Mikan didn't reply, all she did was snatch the Howalon box from him.

Ruka let go of the girl and raced over to Mikan. "I finally got her jealous. Why doesn't it make me feel any better?" he muttered silently to himself.

Mikan stared at the beautifully wrapped box… almost identical to the one she received many years ago.

Ruka blinked… remembering…

"_Ruka-pyon! Look, look, what I got!" Mikan ran over to me, arms wrapped around a box._

"_What, Sakura-san?" I stopped petting my bunny and looked at her. I've always loved her, but I knew Natsume had feelings for her too, so I backed off._

"_Natsume gave it to me! It's a special Howalon box, see?" She showed me the amazingly wrapped box and the candy inside._

"_Whoa…" I looked at Natsume, who was staring blankly ahead, ignoring the two of us._

_He liked her. I knew it. Question was: Did Mikan like him back?_

Ruka's hand suddenly snapped up and he grabbed Mikan's hand and dragged her away from the crowd.

Mikan giggled nervously. "Wha—Ruka?"

He didn't reply, just kept walking forward.

A distant "Waaah…" was heard in the distance, but ignored.

"Ruka? _Doush-tano_ (What's wrong)?" Mikan let herself get pulled along.

Finally reaching a destination where nobody was around. Ruka pinned Mikan to the wall, making Mikan's eyes widen.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Mikan stuttered uneasily, shifting her eyes from his determined face.

"Live in the moment..." was all Ruka whispered as he inched closer…

"Ru—" Mikan was interrupted when he jammed his lips onto hers and she dropped the beautiful box with a clatter.

Ruka's eyes were closed, but Mikan's were wide open, not knowing why this was happening. She and Ruka have kissed before, but none of them were forced, and this… desperate-feeling.

She tried to push him away, but it was useless, she was pinned to the wall, for God's sake.

Ruka tried to push open her mouth, but she clamped it _way_ shut. No way was her first French kiss going to be this forced. Mikan didn't know why Ruka was doing this, but she wasn't going to give in.

She struggled against the kiss, but Ruka kept going. She tried to scream, but she wasn't sure if anyone heard her.

* * *

Kune jogged past many windows, and finally found a little alley where nobody was around.

**(A/N: Uh…oh… I smell danger…)**

He caught his breath and quickly glanced around. The fangirls were nowhere to be found. Thank god.

It has been a while since he dealt with his fangirls, and, they didn't even remember him!

_Was in that long since I was gone? 4 years, enough to make everyone forget?_ Kune thought, irritated.

Suddenly, he thought he heard a muffled scream. He quickly looked around again. Was it another fangirl? It didn't sound like a shriek of happiness…

Kune got up and ran in the rough direction of the voice.

_Maybe I'm just being paranoid_…

Corner after corner, nobody was there. _I'm just imagining things…_ he thought to himself, but suddenly, he stopped.

Somebody was here! He looked around and his eyes found two figures kissing against a wall.

Kune narrowed his eyes in disgust. _Wow… getting all hyped up for no reason, stupid_. He turned to walk away, hoping his presence will go unnoticed, when suddenly he heard:

"Stop it!"

Then, he knew what was _really_ going on. Caging him up for 4 years probably knocked some manners into him, because in a flash, he pulled the girl away from the guy and pushed him backwards so he fell on his butt.

"What the hell?" The blonde hair boy's face was tilted toward the ground, and he was getting over the shock of his fall.

Kune ignored him and turned to the girl, who was still wide-eyed with fear. "Are you alri—"

Kune and the girl both blinked. Their hearts were beating faster and faster…

"Natsume?"

* * *

**And that's the end of the chapter, readers! I hoped you liked it… I think I'm getting in the habit of writing long chapters, which is a good thing, I think! This chapter took me longer than the others, I don't know why. I was planning to make Kune appear in this chapter, but suddenly, I started writing and writing, it got SO long. I was going to leave it like that, but I knew I had to bring Kune into the story, fast. Or else it'll get long and boring… which is never a good thing! Lots of OOC-ness of Ruka in this chapter… you all know he'd never force a kiss on Mikan like that… but it was quite necessary for this story. Hehe.**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Pukite**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**KMAC 08**

** Thanks guys, for reviewing, makes me feel VERY happy. **

**Over and Out (smiles)**

**...…**

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	5. Chapter 5: Black Jewel

►**The Living Dead**◄

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Hehe, so, I like to write with music playing through my earphones, and so whatever song I was currently listening to, I ended up writing for that mood of the song. This TOTALLY messed up some parts of my writing! But I fixed it, and I hope it's good enough! Enjoy!**

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

**--Natsume—: **Used when expressing someone's point of view.

* * *

_**Previously…**_

"**What the hell?" The blonde hair boy's face was tilted toward the ground, and he was getting over the shock of his fall.**

**Kune ignored him and turned to the girl, who was still wide-eyed with fear. "Are you alri—"**

**Kune and the girl both blinked. Their hearts were beating faster and faster…**

"**Natsume?"**

* * *

▬_Chapter Five: Black Jewel▬_

"Natsume?" Mikan repeated, searching his face hungrily, as if she couldn't get enough.

The blonde guy on the floor finally looked up. "What's going o—"

Kune quickly turned his face away from the both of them, but it was too late. Ruka already saw.

Suddenly, Ruka snapped to his shy personality from 4 years ago. "Na-na-natsume?"

Kune quickly dropped Mikan as if she was on fire. He faced the two and started walking backwards slowly.

"I…" he hesitated before spinning around and running away.

Mikan was frozen on the spot. Her mind couldn't grasp the suddenness of it all. When she finally came to her senses, she called out, "Hey! Wait!" before running after Kune, leaving Ruka all alone.

* * *

"Wow," Koko managed to say.

Hotaru's face showed nothing, except her eyebrows were raised a little higher than usual, and her mouth was slightly parted open. Only her closest friends would be able to tell that she was in shock.

"What should we do now?" Koko whispered, mischievously reading Ruka's frazzled mind.

"That was Hyuuga, right?" Hotaru whispered.

"Yeah," Koko replied.

Hotaru did not doubt him. Koko obviously read the guy's mind.

"So… what should we do now?" Koko repeated. They were crouched behind a corner of the alley, but had a perfect view of the shocking scene.

"You can go, or stay here. I'm going to go talk to him." Hotaru pointed at Ruka.

Koko looked at her face, hoping it would foreshadow what she will do to Ruka, but none was given.

"Okay, I guess I'll leave. This day was too much for me." Koko finally stood up, stretching his arms. "_Ja_ (See ya)."

Hotaru lifted her palm dully; it was her type of wave. When Koko left, she stood up herself and walked out of her hiding place.

Ruka was sitting down, his back against the wall, thinking about who-knows-what. Only when Hotaru approached him and hit him with her Baka Gun did he register that someone was there with him.

"Oh, no." Ruka groaned and turned his face the other way.

"Oh, yes." Hotaru towered over him.

"Were you…?" Ruka didn't have to finish.

"Yes, I was watching the _whole_ time, _aho_ (ass/stupid idiot)." Hotaru stared at him coldly.

"I don't know what came over me, okay? I…" Ruka buried his head in his hands.

Hotaru did not speak, and neither did Ruka. The two were silent for a couple of seconds.

Hotaru broke the silence with her calm, no-nonsense voice. "What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Ruka mumbled.

"Now that Hyuuga's back."

Ruka raised his head slowly. "I… don't really know."

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "You can do better than that, Nogi."

Ruka totally snapped. "Look, I TOTALLY SCREWED UP my relationship with Mikan, and now that my BEST FRIEND is back, he's probably going to steal her away, as I always feared. I finally have her now, but he just has to come back… and steal her away from me… just like he did with everything else I had…"

Hotaru watched Ruka sob quietly with an exasperated expression.

"Do you really love Mikan?"

Ruka furrowed his brow. "That's a stupid question. Of cou—"

"You better not be lying. You better not be using her just to get back at Hyuuga," Hotaru said.

"Wha—"

"She is not your tool. That's all. Bye." Hotaru turned around to leave.

"Wait."

Hotaru stopped but didn't turn around.

Ruka sighed. "You're wrong. I _do_ love her. I am not that kind of guy. But I'm sure some of my feelings for her have risen because of Hyuuga."

"Go on," Hotaru muttered.

"I won't do what I did today ever again."

"Why are you telling me that? Shouldn't you be telling this to someone else, not me?" Hotaru started walking again.

Ruka stared at Hotaru's vanishing body, walking farther and farther away from him. He stood up, and walked away as well, but in a different direction as her.

* * *

_Why... why… why…_

Kune ran and ran, pushing past people rudely, ignoring the sounds of the outside world. His thoughts were the only things he heard, echoing in his head.

_Why can't I face her? Haven't I been longing to see her the most?_

_Is it because I found Ruka kissing her?_

_Ruka… what was he doing with _my _girl?_

"_WAKARANAI _(I DON'T KNOW)!" Kune stopped running, panting heavily, hands clutching his head.

"Why is everything so complicated? Was returning here the wrong choice after all?" Kune's head was attacked by thousands of questions that he couldn't answer, fearful doubts, and pain.

"Natsume!"

Kune suddenly heard a shrill girl's voice and quickly opened the door to the nearest store and hid behind the shelf.

Through the window, he saw Mikan running, shouting his name, her beautiful face searching for him.

She looked the same, but different. Her hair was down now, auburn locks cascading down her back and flowing through the wind as she ran.

Kune remembered he used to always tell her to let her hair down, but she always refused. She grew taller, too. Her hour-glass figure made her more tempting.

Everything about her was different, but nostalgic, and the same.

He watched her run past the store he was hiding in, her figure fading slowly…

* * *

"Where is he?" Mikan searched for what seemed like an eternity, but still didn't find him.

_I swear that was Natsume…_ _he looked exactly like him!_ Mikan couldn't quite believe it herself, but she had a feeling, when he held her in his arms, she felt that it had happened before.

She thought she caught a glimpse of him turning around, but when she caught up, she found that he was already gone. She passed store after store, but she never saw him.

After reaching the exit of Central Town, she flopped down on a bench.

"The Natsume I knew wouldn't help a girl being forced with a kiss." Mikan laughed bitterly and stared up at the sky.

"But… I really wish it was him…"

"Ah, well. Ugh, I almost forgot." Mikan suddenly stood up and briskly walked toward her dorm room to change.

"I have a mission…"

* * *

Kune walked out of the store, certain that Mikan was gone now. The sun was almost getting ready to set, and he slowly trudged over to the Central Town exit.

He sighed loudly and sat down on a random bench.

_The sky…_

It seemed to him that the sky was the only thing that didn't change when he was gone. Even Sumire—_Sumire!_—didn't remember him, though he was definitely sure he didn't want her to remember him…

"God, I'm all screwy now." He made a move to stand up, but instead, was forced up by a pair of strong arms, almost yanking Kune's arms out of his sockets.

"Wha—?" Kune managed to choke out.

"You're coming with _me_, mister. Apparently, you're not on the Gakuen Alice enrollment list. You think you're so clever, sneaking in." The bulky, dark-skinned guard dragged him to the front gates.

"You're lucky I don't haul you to the authorities. Now go and never come back." He dropped Kune near the front gate and waited for him to walk out on his own.

Kune didn't give him the satisfaction, and just stood there, staring at the guard.

"You little—if you don't get out, I'll _make_ you get out." With that, the guard advanced toward Kune, carrying a massive stick, ready to shove Kune out…

"_Machi-nasai _(Stop that), Bobo!" An endearing voice called out from the distance.

The guard—_Bobo?—_turned around and bowed respectively. "Narumi-sama."

Kune narrowed his eyes and stared at the figure running toward them. He could make out immaculate curls of blonde hair… a frilly outfit…

Yes, _definitely_ Narumi-like.

_Well, well, well. Naru certainly hasn't changed, _Kune thought, while looking down at the floor.

"Bobo! What do we have here?" Narumi came closer, Kune could even smell his perfume—ickily sweet and choking—as he approached Kune.

"My, my, poor you, Bobo, is it another one trying to get in?"

"_Hai._ Narumi-sama. I tried to kick him out, but this one's stubborn." Bobo remained in his bowing position.

Narumi chuckled. "Aw, come on, let me see your pretty face." Narumi cupped Kune's chin in one hand and pulled his face up towards his own.

The purple eyes met the crimson, and it seemed as if all time stood still, lingering on that one moment, a moment of recognition, surprise, shock, fear, and most importantly, confusion.

"Hyuuga Natsume-kun?" Narumi was so shocked that he forgot to add that extra sugar coated layer he usually puts in his voice. Without it, his voice seemed quite… well, normal.

"Get your hands off me, perverted teacher." Without waiting for a response, Kune roughly slapped Narumi's hand away. Not that it would have mattered to Narumi, he was still recovering from shock.

"How? Wh—"

Kune rolled his eyes. This whole "Natsume?" and "How… why… when?" thing pissed him off a little.

First, it was Mikan. "Natsume? Natsume?"

Then, Ruka. "Na-na-natsume?"

Now, _Hentai_ (pervert) Naru. "Hyuuga Natsume-kun?"

God, it got on his nerves. Even more so when Narumi suddenly grabbed Kune's shoulders and shook them.

"Are you really Natsume? Are you really Natsume?" He was repeating that stupid phrase over and over again; it seemed like it would echo in his mind forever, and ever.

"Tch. What did I say about touching me, Naru?" Kune growled menacingly.

Listening to the magic words "Tch" and "Naru" cast a spell on Narumi. He let go of Kune and blinked at him, not believing his eyes.

Both seemed a little lost for words.

Kune, lost for words, because he didn't know what Narumi would do next to him. Ruffle his hair? Pinch his cheeks? Hold his hand? Even worse—Kune gasped at the horrific thought—use his Pheromone Alice on him?

On the other hand, Narumi, of course, was still shocked and wondering what he should do next.

"I… Bobo?" Narumi looked around, then saw Bobo, still bowing at the exact location where he was 2 minutes ago when Narumi first came.

"Bobo, you may get up now…" Narumi laughed nervously.

"_Arigatou_, Narumi-sama." He exchanged glances with Narumi, who nodded seriously. Without another word, Bobo hoisted Kune onto his broad shoulder and started transporting him to a big building, with Narumi trailing behind.

"_Teme_ (You)… _hanashite _(Let me go)!" Kune activated his Fire Alice, preparing for a fireball to appear in his hand and burn this hindrance of a man… but, no fireball came. Instead, Kune fainted.

Bobo stopped walking, sensing that the struggling object of fury on top of him suddenly went limp, and turned to Narumi. "Is he alright, Narumi-sama?"

Narumi quickly glanced at the unconscious Kune. "He just overused his Alice, that's all. _Daijoubu_ (It's alright), he'll be fine."

Bobo nodded and continued forward.

Narumi closed his eyes, as if in deep thought.

_At least, I hope he will be alright…_

* * *

_Warehouse 48, Warehouse 48…_

Mikan swiftly flew past all tens of warehouses, but never finding her target.

_Warehouse 48… There!_

Mikan slowly reached in her pocket of her total black attire and reread a crumpled piece of paper.

_BJ,_

_Destination: W48, East_

_Objective: Check if a girl is still alive and with an Alice._

_Description: Girl – Black Hair, 13-14 years of age, pale, purple eyes that turn crimson at times._

_Time: Leave at the first signs of the sun setting, return before dark._

_Crap_, Mikan thought. That only gave her 2 hours.

She quickly nullified the alert system that was on the side door and slipped in. She took this route many times and knew her way easily.

The hard part, though, was finding the girl and determining if she indeed still had her Alice.

After dodging 10 guards, careful not to let her killer instincts take over—this wasn't an action mission; it was a spy one—she heard a whimper.

"Shut up!"

Mikan heard a high-pitched shriek, and nothing more. She flattened herself against a corner, hoping her presence would go unnoticed. The man walked out of the room as she slipped in.

Her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, as she slowly inched her way toward what she thought looked liked a slumped figure.

Luckily, she copied the _Sense Alice_, which helped her see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and sense things better, so she could see that figure was, indeed, a girl and she matched every detail on the paper Persona gave her.

"Hey," Mikan whispered.

The girl gave a start and looked around the room before her eyes rested on a dark figure crouching next to her.

She gasped and tried to crawl away.

Mikan sighed. She didn't blame the girl, she _did_ look quite intimidating. Her complete black attire included a tight, black turtleneck, black sweats, only they made no noise when she ran, and shoes that Hotaru made especially for her that did not make any noise no matter what she did.

Her hair was pulled back into a tight, slick ponytail, with black-colored gems decorating the hair clips that kept the loose strands back in place. Mikan's right wrist had a bracelet adorned with small black and red gems, and it was used to contact the Academy and help them pinpoint her location if she needed help.

So, in total, _yes_, she looked scary.

Mikan reached out a comforting hand and flashed her brightest smile. "It's alright. I'm from the Academy. So keep quiet, okay? I don't want to get caught."

The girl was still wide-eyed with fear, but slowly nodded. At least she stopped inching away from Mikan.

"Are you here to bring me back?" she suddenly asked in a tiny, high-pitched voice.

If she wasn't in a dangerous mission, Mikan would've jumped on the girl and pinched her cheek. Her voice was amazingly cute.

But, considering they were in a heavily-guarded warehouse, and they could be killed if they were found, she resisted the urge and replied, "Sorry… but not yet."

"Oh." The girl looked super disappointed. "Why are you here then?"

Mikan looked down. "Well, I need to know if you still have your alice."

The girl suddenly sniffed, and tears started plopping down. "No, I don't. I don't know why; I can't use it anymore."

Mikan furrowed her brow. "Was it stolen?" She had a very good idea whose fault that would've been. _God, sometimes I want to kill that hell of a mother I have…_

"I don't—"

"Shh!"

Mikan suddenly interrupted the girl and listened. She heard heavy footsteps coming their way.

"Sorry, I have to go! I'll come back soon, so please, stay alive 'til then, 'kay?" Mikan prepared to flee, grabbing the window ledge and hoisting herself up easily.

"Wait! What's your name, onee-san? Mine's Aoi!" she whispered, running to the window and looking up at Mikan.

"Shhh! It's Mikan, see you later, Aoi!" Mikan used one of Hotaru's inventions that let her pass through any matter, as if her body was transparent.

Aoi looked a little bug-eyed, but when the AAO burst in, she was already feigning unconsciousness on the ground, hoping they had the sense to infer that no intruder had been here to disturb.

"Hm… looks like no one's here," a man grunted.

"Hey you!" Aoi felt a sharp jab on her side and cried out in pain.

"Was there anyone here? Answer me, you brat."

Aoi shook her head, terrified.

"Che! I bloody _swear_ I heard something. Let's go." The leader kicked open the dilapidated door and stomped out.

* * *

"I believe he is Hyuuga Natsume."

The high school principal could not hide her surprise.

"The _Kuro Neko_ (Black Cat)? Disappeared… 4 years ago…" The woman stroked her tabby cat with her long, painted nails repeatedly and gently. The cat yawned and meowed with pleasure, rubbing its face against her hand.

Narumi shuddered a bit, remembering how students were tortured, especially the Dangerous Abilities students, under her command.

"_Hai, _Fujiwara-dono," Narumi kept his face bowed to the floor.

**(A/N: Aiko Fujiwara, age unknown. Principal of High-School Division. Looks like Yuko from Tsubasa Chronicles & xxxHolic. From looks, she seems to be around 15-25 years old. Known for her long, black hair, purple eyes, and long, sharp painted nails. Made her up. Hehe.)**

"Very well, Narumi. I will take your word for it, but first…" She lifted her hand.

"_Persona…_" her lips barely moved, her finger still pointed at nothing in particular.

_Knock. Knock. _

"Come in!" the principal sang endearingly.

"You called me, Fujiwara-dono?" A black-haired, tall man emerged from the shadows of the room. His features were covered by a white mask, and what you could see of his eyes were just black slits. His lips were unnaturally black, probably due to the job of a nice brand of gothic lipstick, and his high-heeled boots echoed throughout the room as he stalked closer.

"_Aiyaaaaaaa_, how many times have I told you _not_ to call me that? Call me Aiko! Aiko! Say it!"

The principal, obviously, was not afraid of his intimidating looks. In fact, she looked very sappy at the moment.

**(A/N: Aiyaa is not Japanese, it's actually something Chinese people would say. And I'm part Chinese, so I would know.)**

"Fujiwara-dono…" Persona raised his eyebrows nervously, glancing uneasily at the alluring, black-haired beauty lounging on the couch.

"Say. It." Principal Fujiwara enunciated the 2 words perfectly and with menace.

Narumi winced. Talk about a mood change.

"Ai-ko."

"_Yata _(Yay), Persona-_nii_ (older brother)!" Fujiwara patted the seat next to her, motioning Persona to come over and sit.

**(A/N: Gosh, so many author's notes! But I have to make things clear, YES, Fujiwara and Persona are brothers and sisters. Aiko and Persona both changed their last names, for their own purposes. Now back to the story!)**

Persona stiffly remained standing. "_Aiko, just get down to business._" He gritted his teeth.

Fujiwara looked hurt and slumped sullenly down on her sofa. "Alright!" she snapped. "Narumi, explain to Persona about… _this_." Fujiwara vaguely waved her hand at the approximate location where Kune was sleeping, with disdain.

She never liked children, but she chose to be a principal exactly for that purpose, to punish the children and bring order to their annoying ways.

Since Kune's hair was covering most of his face, Persona walked over and roughly pushed aside his hair and took a good look.

"So, the _Kuro Neko_ returns…"

* * *

**-Natsume-**

I grinned with pleasure, ready to feel the warm comfort of a fireball in my hand, ready to burn this man that dared…

Before I even finished the thought in my head, my muscles contracted painfully, and I felt my body weaken…

When I came to my senses, I was in a world of black. Floating around, I wondered what I saw the world as, what I saw in the world…

* * *

Days at the AAO were painful. Being chained up all day, given meager helpings—sometimes no food at all—tortured with Alices… all I could do when I was left alone was to think, eat, and sleep.

At one point, in desperation, I started talking to an imaginary Mikan, like Tom Hanks talking to William, the volleyball, in the movie _Cast Away_. But then Shinto caught me in the act and laughed at my face.

I was out of my mind, even _conjuring_ the idea of talking to somebody that wasn't there.

My usually dreamless sleep became full of nightmares, masked faces, blurred words… cacophony of voices, shouting, screaming, and moaning.

At the end of every nightmare, there was only one thing I heard clearly.

"When you look out into the world, what do you see?"

After that, I'd always wake up, drenched with sweat, arms sore from being chained up, and confused. I'd try to go back to sleep, for my dreams to guide me to find that answer, but I'd never dream until the next night.

_What do I see, when I look out into the world?_

* * *

Still floating around in dark space, gently bumping into unseen walls, propelling back to the place where I started…

I squinted. What was that? A door?

"Natsume! Over here!"

I looked away from the door and found another one behind me. Unlike the other, this one clearly had Mikan leaning against the door frame, hands outstretched.

I ran to her, running… running…but, I couldn't get close to her. No matter how fast I ran, how hard I pumped my arms, I couldn't get any closer to her.

Mikan's features were disappearing every second. But her voice was still the same volume, and repeating the same name:

"Natsume! Natsume!"

I cried out in frustration. "MIKAN!"

I stopped running and fell to me knees, my eyes still on her.

"Natsume!"

"Natsume!"

"Na-TSUME!" Mikan's voice suddenly rose in pitch, her voice was so high it sounded like a shriek.

I knew why. Everything except her face was gone, the nothingness devouring her.

"NATSUME! _Dasu-kete _(Save me)!" Mikan's eyes were the only thing visible now, the tears that flowed from them dropped harmlessly to the ground, where they splattered and turned into mist.

I didn't do anything. I knew it was futile. Fate didn't allow us to be together in this bizarre world.

"Na—" Her voice was cut off as she was finally gone.

* * *

Mikan raced past trees, faster than usual because the wind was on her side.

However, since the wind was with her, it meant her hair was whipping her face, and it _hurt_.

Mikan rested to a stop, catching her breath and kneeling beneath a bush. Not that she thought anyone would find her, she was already halfway back to the Academy.

She first felt something was wrong when she thought she heard a slight rustling sound, thinking it was the wind.

_Rustle… rustle…_

Mikan stood up nervously, Alices ready to be activated. She was caught off guard when someone—something—pounced on her back.

Mikan whipped around and found a wolf sinking its teeth into her skin. She used one of her special Alices that let her body stretch like rubber. She twisted her body so she was facing the wolf and attacked, striking the wolf.

It fell, dead, to the ground with a thud and a howl.

Mikan cursed and buried the animal in a bush. She had to make sure there were no signs of someone ever being here. Her back had 4 deep cuts where the wolf's teeth were.

She checked her bracelet, which had the time on it.

_Shoot, only 20 more minutes left. _

Mikan reluctantly stood up and rose up in the air. She resumed her brisk flying pace and, with tremendous pain, sped away to the Academy.

* * *

"He's awake."

Kune's head felt sticky with sweat because his bangs were plastered onto his forehead. His body felt too hot, and he was incredibly uncomfortable.

Especially because the one man that he used to hate the most was looking down at him, smirking to himself.

Kune quickly took in his surroundings. Flowers were placed everywhere, giving the place a sickeningly sweet smell. Graceful see-through curtains were parted so the beautiful view outside could be seen. A bunch of couches were visible, and the flooring was similar to that of a ballroom's.

An unfamiliar, haughty, and beautiful-looking woman was draped all over one of the bigger couches, with a sleek-looking brown cat in her hands. Her clothes were very revealing, and it was all black, with purple and red flower decorations on the hem of her dress.

_Interesting_… Kune thought as he sat up. Suddenly, he spotted meek-looking Narumi in the corner and glared at him.

Kune opened his mouth to speak, but Persona cut him off.

"_Okairi_ (Welcome back), _Kuro Neko_." Persona smiled, which looked like a grimace and smirk at the same time.

Kune gritted his teeth, swung his legs over the couch, and stood up. "Tch. Shut up."

"My, still the same vicious attitude," Persona mocked. He turned around and bowed to Fujiwara.

"Please excuse us, we need some privacy."

Fujiwara narrowed her eyes. "Talk here."

Narumi stepped forward. "I think it's best if they talk alone, Fujiwara-dono…" he suggested softly.

The brother and sister both turned their heads to Narumi's direction and glared. Narumi felt his knees turn to jelly. "Um, that's only a suggestion! A-a-a-yeah, a suggestion!"

"I don't need you to fight my battles, _Narumi_." Persona spat, turning to Fujiwara again.

"_Aiko._" His voice dangerously dropped to a growl.

Kune, watching all this, was super confused. _Aiko Fujiwara? Dono? She's a principal? Judging how I never saw her before, of the high-school branch?_

Kune's eyes quickly flitted over her slutty outfit. _Interesting choice of clothing, Fujiwara._ His face showed a small sneer.

"Fine. Go." Fujiwara looked furious as she snapped her fingers—

_Amazing how her nails didn't snap off_, Kune thought.

—and the huge doors opened.

"Let's go, Natsume."

Kune thought about resisting, then went against it. If he resisted, this crazy, witch-like principal girl would smush him into a blueberry pancake, or whatever her alice was. And Persona would be onto him faster than you can say: "F-- off."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and kept his distance from Persona as he followed him out the door.

They walked into one of the private rooms the building offered, and Persona motioned for Natsume to sit in one of the two chairs.

Kune glared at him and remained standing. Persona narrowed his eyes.

"_Sit_." Persona grabbed Kune's shoulders fiercely and forced him into the black leather chair.

"Bastard." Kune seethed, but he remained in his seat.

Persona sat as well, clasping his hands in front of him professionally. "So, Natsume, I want you to tell me everything that happened."

Kune stared blankly at him.

Persona leaned forward impatiently. "In other words, what they asked you about the Academy, and what you answered."

Kune casually leaned back and folded his arms over his head. "They asked me about the Dangerous Abilities students, the teacher's Alices, and who I thought had the most powerful Alice of the school."

"And?"

"I told them to shove their questions up their asses—"

"Yes, yes. So in other words, you didn't tell them anything?"

"Hn."

"Good." Persona nodded.

Kune snorted in his head. That was all Persona cared about. Hell, he never bothered asking him how he cleverly escaped, or how he was treated at the AAO. Well, Kune didn't need that anyway. He didn't want pity, sympathy, or praise.

He just wanted to get this over with, be alone, and make everything go back to the way it was before.

_Knock. Knock._

"Come in," Persona drawled.

Nobara's curly-haired head popped out from the door frame. "_Ano_… Persona-sensei… it's Jewel-chan here."

Nobara's head was down the whole time, but when she finally looked up, she practically jumped to the other side of the room, hand over her heart.

Unlike the others, Kune noted, the famous Ice Princess just stared, mouth open at him. It was as if someone pressed "pause" in her world.

Persona looked bored and impatient. "That's _enough_, _Shiro-hime_ (Ice Princess)."

Nobara finally came back to her senses and squeaked, "Yes, Persona. Jewel's waiting for you in the lobby to tell you about the mission…"

Persona showed signs of recognition in his eyes. "Yes, yes, let's go." He was suddenly interested and stood up and waited for Nobara to open the door for him.

**(A/N: That pompous BRAT! Gawd, "He waited for Nobara to open the door for him." Who does he think he is? Oops, forgot… he's the most feared teacher in the entire Academy. XD)**

Nobara quickly glanced at Kune before hastily opening the door.

"Natsume," Persona suddenly called out.

Kune looked up.

"Come."

Kune stood up, and without a glance at Nobara, followed Persona out.

They walked in silence, with Persona's heels clacking in the front, and Kune's feet shuffling in the back.

Persona broke the silence.

"I… have something… rather…" Persona paused dramatically, "interesting for you to see, _Kuro Neko_."

"Oh wait." Persona stopped walking but didn't turn around. "You're not the Black Cat anymore, are you?"

Kune narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" Kune felt his heart give a tiny flutter.

"Well… you said you'd work for us if we kept your sister safe, _deshou_ (am I right)?"

"Yes."

"Well… one month ago, she was captured by the AAO," Persona spoke emotionlessly.

"_NANI?! TEME _(What?! You)…" Kune wanted to grab that damn Persona's neck and wring it.

"You can't blame me, Natsume. You stopped working for the Academy. You disappeared, you were dead, to all of us." He chuckled.

"It was not like we got her captured _on purpose_, no. It was… just a coincidence. A rather interesting one."

"_Teme,_ don't you _dare_ call my sister being chained up at the AAO an interesting coincidence!" Kune was yelling now.

"Oh, I'm just so _sorry_, Natsume. You see, the good news is, you don't have to work for the Dangerous Abilities class anymore."

Kune stopped walking so fast, he nearly fell over.

"Stop…working…?" Kune hesitated, then nodded. "Of course."

Persona's laugh sent shivers down Kune's spine.

"I thought you'd say that. But before you make your final decision, I have someone for you to see…"

Persona stopped at a room that had no door, but curtains for privacy. He parted them and waited for Kune to come in.

Kune hesitated for a split second before taking a step in.

"_Kuro Neko, _meet your replacement." Persona sneered.

"Take off your mask, Jewel," Persona commanded.

The mysterious girl with black jewels adorning every accessory she wore (bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and hair clips) slowly put her hand on her face and removed her black gem-like mask.

"Black Jewel, also known as _Mikan Sakura_."

* * *

**Wow! What a long chapter (in my opinion)! Did you guys like it? Hope you did, please review to tell me whatever you think! Also, I now have a beta reader! (squeals) Her name is Masked Mistress and gosh, THANKS SO MUCH! She totally made my chapter brilliant after working her amazing magic on it. (smile)**

**Oh, and I don't know if you guys noticed, but... My first chapter of The Living Dead was a mere 2,647 words, then chapter 2 was 3,713 words, Chapter 3 was 4,662, Chapter 4 was 4,850, and now this chapter is...5,579! Is it just me, or do I see some major increasing going on there? XD**

**But I really really doubt I'd keep this pattern going. I mean, come on, I can't write a 7,000 word chapter! That would be CRAZY! For me, I mean. Anyway, are you guys proud of me? Over 5,500 words! WOW!  
**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Pukite**

**Masked Mistress**

**AzurEaquA**

**euca1995**

**xXAlyssa-himEXx**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**KMAC 08**

** Thanks for reviewing, you guys rock my socks off **

**Mata-ne!**

**X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X****X**

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	6. Chapter 6: He Who Returns

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**WAAAA… I'm so sorry, my readers, for updating this late! (slaps self) I was… I don't know. I wasn't really exactly busy, but for some reason, I just couldn't write! I had like, probably 7 writers' blocks on just this one chapter! SCARYY! And my beta-reader was busy, so she didn't have time to edit it. So please put your guns and other violent weapons down… hehe… onegai…**

**Okay folks, IMPORTANT: I'm going to stop using the name "Kune" and replace it with "Natsume" now. Since there's really no point in calling him by his AAO nickname now that Mikan knows it's him, and so does Persona, Hotaru, Koko, and Ruka.**

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

—**Name— **That person's point of view. So, if it's **—Mikan—**, then it's her point of view.

* * *

_**Previously…**_

"_**Kuro Neko, **_**meet your replacement." Persona sneered.**

"**Take off your mask, Jewel," Persona commanded.**

**The mysterious girl with black jewels adorning every accessory she wore (bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and hairclips) slowly put her hand on her face and removed her black gem-like mask.**

"**Black Jewel, also known as **_**Mikan Sakura**_**."**

* * *

▬_Chapter Six: He Who Returns ▬_

The familiar brown hair, the chocolate-colored eyes, the long dark lashes… the familiarity of it all struck Natsume, hard.

_Mikan… what was she doing here?_

The chocolate-brown orbs met the crimson-red in silence. Natsume felt that he didn't know her anymore.

_What was she doing here? Black Jewel?_

"Yes, Natsume." Persona threw back his head and laughed.

Natsume cringed at the cacophony, but Mikan did not flinch, once. Her steely gaze that was once fixed on him turned to Persona.

"Shall we talk at the hospital, Persona?" Mikan spoke quietly.

Natsume blinked and noticed the expanding stain of red around Mikan's right shoulder. His heart leapt to his throat…

"What is the meaning of this?" Natsume demanded, facing Persona, fists clenched.

"Why, Natsume, of course I had to find a replacement for you when you were gone." Persona smirked. "I found the perfect replacement 3 years ago. I dare say that she's even better than you are."

Mikan blinked. "_Arigatou_, Persona." She bowed a little bit, her earrings clattering together and her bracelets avalanching down her arm, but never making a single sound.

Natsume closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, hoping it was just a terrible nightmare.

But it wasn't, it was real… terribly real.

"But, let's talk at the hospital. You should come too, _Natsume_." Persona stood up and walked out the door.

Mikan hesitated. She could feel a certain someone's intense stare on her. She turned around, meeting his eyes. She narrowed her eyes and screamed, "Stop playing your stupid tricks on me, Hiro!"

Natsume stepped back a little. "Wh-what?" he stammered.

Mikan took a dangerous step closer, wagging her finger accusingly at him. "STOP IT! You think you're so clever, playing along with Persona-sensei. Well, I had ENOUGH!" She grabbed a vase that was put near her, and, flowers and all, threw at in the direction of Natsume's head.

Natsume dodged it easily. He _was_ the _Kuro Neko_ after all, and besides, she was so angry that her aim was a little ways off.

He was going to ask her what the hell she was doing, and who was _Hiro,_ but she stomped out without another word.

Natsume, glancing at the broken shards of the once-beautiful vase and drenched flowers, started after her.

* * *

—**Mikan—**

_It was a snowy winter night. _Yuki_ (snow) flew down from the sky in flurries. I didn't even glance at the beautiful scene. Instead, I was lying face-down on my bed, crying._

_The ugly sounds hurt my ears, but I couldn't stop crying._

_I was tired and hungry. I have been known as Black Jewel for 1 full year already. What do people think when you mention the name "Black Jewel"?_

_A Killer._

_Which is true. I _am_ a killer. I've killed bad people, and some good ones. Well, in the Academy's eyes the people that I think are good are, in reality, bad. I don't even feel any remorse when I kill anymore._

_I've become a monster. I became feared at school, but admired, just like Natsume was when he was here. I never told anyone about my missions and snapped at anyone who asked. I didn't want to elaborate how many people I killed that day, or how much of a monster I have become._

_Pah. I even had my own little fan club of boys now._

_I felt I didn't trust life anymore. After all, what was the point of living if all my life consisted of was pain, sadness, and hate?_

_The endless path of emptiness was blinding. I wanted to push away everything, to break out. The worst part of my life was the waiting._

_My throat was numb from sobbing and screaming. I lay there, paralyzed, lifeless, trapped inside my cocoon of emotions. I felt that I was suffocating; I desperately needed a way out, out of this world._

**(A/N: This was before Mikan found about Persona's drug. She doesn't have that yet, so she has no way of forgetting.)**

_I wanted to end my life, now._

_Using all the strength I had, I pulled my self up using my hands, and crawled over to where I lazily shed my black mission clothes._

_I blindly groped my hand around for a while, until I found it: A sharp, shiny dagger that I normally carried around for missions._

_I hastily wiped the blood on the dagger away with my sleeve and stared at the weapon until my vision doubled._

_Was I really going to do this? I held the dagger over my left wrist and hovered._

_My eyes hardened as I pressed the cold blade and sliced my wrist, leaving a deep dark red mark._

_Blood was gushing out, and I clutched my throbbing arm in pain. I gasped for air, it was so painful…_

"_Mikan!" Ruka suddenly burst into the room._

_I was in too much pain to wonder how he knew; he just did._

_He saved my life._

_When I woke up the next day at the Academy hospital, Ruka was right there by my side. His crystal blue eyes were the first thing I saw, and I was glad. _

"_Ruka…" I felt tears flowing down my cheeks._

_Ruka nodded in understanding as he held my hand. _

"_I don't want to die, I—" _

_I didn't get to finish my sentence. I was interrupted by Ruka—_

_Who kissed me square on the lips._

* * *

_**A couple months later…**_

_I quickly gave Ruka a peck on the cheek before walking away. "See ya later!" I waved._

_He flashed me a sly smile and waved back._

_I grinned. Life was going on again. The scar was nothing but a mark on my skin, and an almost-forgotten memory._

_I was busier than usual, because I found about Persona's miracle medicine, but it was definitely worth the work, even the risk! Even though I thought that, though, I still acted depressed and cranky around Persona. I didn't know why, but I thought it was better if I acted that way, so he didn't get the wrong idea and think I was happy with so many missions._

_Oh, boy, if I knew what I did would affect what happened next…_

* * *

Natsume ran after her, but Mikan teleported to the hospital, despite the condition she was in.

_Her Alice must have grown stronger_, Natsume thought grimly, as he continued to pursue her, but he had no damn clue where the hospital was.

Suddenly, Narumi appeared.

"Natsume-kun…"

Natsume didn't bother replying.

"I know things are hard for you, but—"

"_I get it_, Naru," Natsume growled. "What do you want?"

Narumi cleared his throat uneasily. "I'm here to prepare for your re-admission to Alice Academy."

**(A/N: I usually say "Gakuen Alice", but not a lot of people know what Gakuen means, so I guess it's best to say Alice Academy.)**

Natsume blinked. He knew that by coming here, he would have to enter the school once more, but now that it was up in his face, he wasn't sure if he was ready.

"It's the only way, Natsume-kun." Narumi shook his head sympathetically.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Only way for _what_?"

"To be with Mikan, to be with your friends, to be _home_."

Those words struck hard. He never referred the Academy as his home, but he knew it was the only place that even qualified. It was the place where he made friends, yet also the same place where he felt suffering and hatred.

"Alright, I'll enter."

* * *

—**Mikan—**

"_Black Jewel." Persona acknowledged me with a nod and two words._

"_Persona-sensei." I kept my face bowed to the floor. I knew that Persona was Fujiwara-dono's brother, and how Fujiwara was picky about bowing. I wondered if it was a family gene and that Persona was picky too. I didn't want to take chances, so I bowed low and proper._

"_Get up. I'm not like Fujiwara," Persona snapped at once._

_Oops. Big mistake._

"_What did you call me for, Persona-sensei?" I, righting myself from my bowing position, inquired._

_Persona smirked a little. "I have… let's see… a _visitor _for you, Jewel."_

_My face showed confusion, I knew it. "Who is it?" I temporarily forgot to act polite and indifferent._

_I should've known, I should've known that Persona would _never_ do something good for me. I should've known._

_But I didn't, at the time. There I was, prancing like a puppy, following Persona to a private room where my "visitor" was waiting._

_Persona actually stepped aside for _me_ to part the curtains. Wow, a weird gesture, I know. He was usually pig-headed and parted them himself._

_I pushed past him, eager to see my "visitor", parted the blue silky curtains and took a peek inside._

_What I saw almost made me faint._

_The messy black pile of hair, the crimson red eyes… that indifferent expression…_

"_NATSUME!"_

_I flung myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck, almost strangling him. I sobbed into his shirt, pressing my face against his chest, letting my hot tears drop down. My arms wrapped around his neck, and I felt his hands hesitatingly wrap around my waist. _

_After I finished crying, I stood on my tip-toes and gazed into his eyes. He blinked at me as I gently kissed him on the lips. I felt… unlike before, the jigsaw pieces didn't match, for some reason. I pulled back, arms still around him._

"_I missed you…" I whispered breathlessly._

_Suddenly, I heard Natsume chuckle. I looked up at him quizzically, and his face wore a small smirk. "My, my, lovely Mikan, I should do this more. Then I'd get free hugs and kisses everyday!"_

"_What do you mean, Natsume?" I was seriously confused. He should do _what_ more?_

_Natsume quickly glanced at Persona, who laughed and nodded._

"_What do I mean?" He smiled at me. "I mean, I should be Hyuuga Natsume more!"_

_I stared up into his smirking/smiling face for a few seconds. _

_Then realization dawned on me and I jerked my hands away from him and stumbled backwards._

"_Wh—you're not Na…tsume?" My eyes were wide as saucers, and unconsciously, I felt my hands fly up to my mouth._

_He pouted. "Awww, no more kisses?" He tapped his lips seductively._

_I narrowed my eyes at him and growled, "Cut the crap."_

"_Natsume" shrugged. "Fine, then." He flexed his left hand's fingers slowly and covered his eyes with that hand._

_I stared at him, in hatred and, yet, in wonder. Who…?_

_Suddenly, I squeaked. His hair was changing color and shape, his body grew taller, clothes slowly morphing into other colors…_

_Finally, his transformation was complete. He slowly removed his hand away from his face and I saw that his eyes were not crimson anymore, they were a piercing green._

"_Hiro!?" I screamed in shock, gaping at him._

_The red-haired hottie made a "peace" sign and winked at me. "Hey, honey."_

* * *

Narumi pushed open a door and ushered Natsume in.

Natsume quickly looked around and recognized this as Narumi's office that he shared with Misaki and Jin-Jin.

"Sit, here." Narumi stole a chair from Misaki's neat desk and motioned Natsume to sit.

Once all seated, Narumi leaned forward. "I don't know if you want to talk about this, but will you tell me what exactly happened when you were at the AAO?"

_Oh, _Natsume smirked, _if Persona had an opposite, Narumi would definitely qualify._

"Natsume-kun?"

"Shut up. I'm thinking," Natsume muttered darkly.

"Oh."

Finally, Natsume took a deep breath and began…

"I was known as Kune at the AAO, short for **Ku**ro **Ne**ko…"

* * *

—**Mikan—**

"_Hiro… this is your alice?" My hands were shaking._

_He nodded, wearing a lopsided grin. "Surprised, Mikan?"_

"_Somewhat," I mumbled, eyes on the floor. It hurt to look into his perfect face. It was like looking directly at sunlight, it burned your eyes. I had Ruka, but it didn't mean my "Hottie Alert" wasn't on, God. I wasn't blind._

_Persona suddenly stepped in. It hadn't occurred to me that he was watching the whole time. I was too focused on having Natsume back._

_Psh. What a fool I am._

"_Takashi Hiroto, Metamorphosis Alice." Persona's voice rang clear through the silence._

"_Meta—meta—"_

"_You can call it the Morphing Alice, darling." Hiro chuckled as his arm snaked around my shoulders._

_I blinked. I remember when Hiro first came into Dangerous Abilities. Nobody knew his Alice, and nobody asked. Every girl fell in love with his red, spiky hair, luminous green eyes, and cool personality. Unlike Natsume, he loved to flirt and was always fun to be around._

_Unfortunately, I just thought he was some sexual-harasser. Well, a VERY handsome harasser._

"_Get your hands off me, Hiro." I shimmied away from his arms and jumped to the other side of the room._

"_Tsk, tsk. Still shy as ever, Strawberries."_

_I looked away from him in disgust. "I can't believe I kissed you."_

"_I wonder if this is how Hyuuga feels when he kisses you… man, I'd like to be in his shoes! Oh wait, you're dating his best friend now, aren't you?" He somehow appeared by my side again._

_I stiffened as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Don't you think that's a little back-stabbing, my Mikan?"_

"_GET AWAY!" I shoved him aside and stormed out of the room._

_I practically FELT Persona and Hiro's smirks boring into my back as I furiously walked down the hallway, fists clenched, and face red…_

* * *

Mikan laid in the hospital bed, watching the nurses heal her wounded shoulder in silence. Hiro morphed into Natsume a couple more times, and she always fell for it.

_But I know better now… I know better…_

"Mikan, stop tensing up… more blood's gushing out of your shoulder…" a pretty blonde girl pointed out to her.

"Oh." Mikan blinked. "_Gomen_ (Sorry)."

"HEY! NO VISITORS ALLOWED!" Mikan suddenly heard a nurse yell.

She heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Oh no," she groaned, as she turned to her side and pretended to fall asleep.

"Mikan!"

"Honey!"

A dark-blue haired boy laughed. "I can never get enough of that, Hiro!"

Tsubasa and Hiro exchanged high-fives as they crowded around Mikan's hospital bed.

_Grrr… _Mikan thought miserably, _Tsubasa is my senpai, but why does he just _have_ to be friends with HIRO?_

She felt a warm hand ruffle her hair… another hand touched her cheek.

Still feigning sleep, Mikan forced her cheeks to stop blushing.

"Oi, Hiro, what are you doing?"

Mikan felt the hand touching her cheek jerk away. "Nothing."

Tsubasa chuckled. "Let's go."

Hiro nodded.

The sound of footsteps fading away…

* * *

"Okay, let's get down to business." Narumi clasped his hands together and took out a bunch of papers.

"Let's talk about your star ranking and classes."

Narumi shuffled some random papers absentmindedly before continuing. "You will still be a Special Star, if, you decide to keep working for the Academy."

Natsume stared at Narumi, face quite impassive, before stating, "I'll talk to Persona about that."

Silence swept across the office and the two looked stonily at each other.

"Natsume-kun… don't push yourself too far, I…" Narumi's sentence faded off.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Natsume rolled his eyes.

"You'll be in Class C, which is—cough—the same class that Mikan-chan has! You'll be still participating in Dangerous Abilities… if you choose to. If not, you will be in Ruka's class."

Natsume gave a little nod and then stood up. "Is that it?"

"Wait… sign these papers." Narumi came over with 2 stacks of forms and plopped them in front of Natsume.

"_Matane _(See you)!" Narumi called out before disappearing out of the office.

Natsume's face clearly portrayed his emotions.

_I'll burn you…_

* * *

"WHAT?" Natsume slammed his fist onto the wooden table and stood up angrily.

"Natsume. Stop this at once," a cold voice replied.

"She's my _replacement!_ I'm back, so you should let her go!" Natsume never felt so frustrated and tired in his entire life.

"None can do, Natsume." Persona held out his hands and shrugged.

"_I said, _Persona, she is my _replacement_. Now that I'm back, I can replace her! What part of that do you not _understand_?"

"Do not speak to me in that tone, Hyuuga Natsume."

"Oh, so what?" Natsume fired back.

Persona chuckled. "Well, I _do_ have your little _Mikan_ in my grasp here…"

Natsume froze. A shiver went down his spine at those words.

"That's much better, Natsume. Now, now. I already told you I will make a deal with you." Persona leaned back in his chair. "I will let you join the Dangerous Abilities, once more, but I will not let my precious Black Jewel go."

Natsume opened his mouth to shout at him, but Persona cut him off.

"Remember, I am doing a _huge_ favor for you, Kuro Neko. Just by keeping that little girl _alive_."

Natsume gritted his teeth. He wanted to burn something, right now.

"Let me go on her missions."

Persona looked surprised for a moment. "Why, you can't, you have your own missions to do!"

Natsume shook his head in frustration, and tried again. "Let me go on her missions _with her_. I'll still take my missions."

Persona smirked. "And, of course, you can handle _double _the amount of missions. I mean, your body is in _such_ a _good_ condition." His words were mocking and dripping with sarcasm.

"I can do it."

"Fine, but if you die, it will be _all your fault_."

* * *

"Welcome back!" Mikan's door exclaimed as it sprung open. Mikan grunted and slammed it shut as she walked inside.

"So you're back." An emotionless voice came from the corner of the room.

Mikan fell on top of her bed, face-down. She was used to Hotaru inviting herself in.

"Mmm."

"How was your day?" Hotaru fished out her portable can of crab brains and started snacking.

"Worse than usual." Mikan used her arms to lift her up from her bed so she was facing her best friend. "Get this: I wounded my shoulder," Mikan showed Hotaru the bite marks, "_and_ oops, Hiro did it again."

**(A/N: Oops I did it again, I played with your heart, got lost in the game… oh baby, bab-yyy… lol sorry… just had to do that! It sure fits Hiro… such a playboy.)**

Hotaru stopped munching for a second. "So he pretended to be _him_ again?"

Mikan nodded glumly. "Yeah. It's so stupid." Mikan punched the bed with her fist. "I didn't fall for it this time, though."

Mikan grinned at Hotaru. "Are you proud of me?"

_Baka. Baka. Baka._

"No. I am not." Hotaru replied emotionlessly, waving her gun around to clear off the smoke.

"Awwww, _Hotaru!_ _Doushite_ (Why)?" Mikan clutched her throbbing head.

"You'll see," Hotaru muttered mysteriously before she stood up, closed her can of crab brains, and put her hand on the door knob.

"_Madash-ta_ (See you tomorrow), Mikan." Hotaru turned and left the room.

"Aa-ah." Mikan sighed, hugging her white fluffy pillow.

"Hotaru's such a meanie."

* * *

**The Next Day…**

When Mikan woke up, it was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping outside, sending their sweet song notes to her ears, naturally waking her up. The sun was shining, but not blindingly. Mikan pushed the curtains aside and opened her windows. The cool breeze made the curtains flutter and dance. It was a perfect morning to wake up to.

Unconsciously, she started humming her favorite tune. Before long, she was full-out singing.

**(A/N: Bold is Romanji, which is what she's actually singing, and **_Italics_ **are the translation.)**

**Sekaijuu ikutsu no**_  
How many forms of love  
_**ai no katachi aru n darou**_  
are there in this world?  
_**Hitori hitori chigau mono o**_  
Everybody is holding on  
_**kakae nagara iki teru**_  
to different things living in this world_**  
kazoku ya tomodachi ya—  
**_Family and friends and—_

"_Chiku-sho _(Damn it)!" Mikan hopped on one foot and wailed. While singing, she wasn't paying attention and she dropped her school bag on her foot.

Ouch, right?

"So much for a beautiful morning," Mikan grumbled as she massaged her injured foot. "At least it's nothing serious."

_I ain't got no money  
I ain't got no car to take you on a date  
I can't even buy you flowers…_

Her phone was ringing. And, judging by the specific ringtone she set, someone important was calling.

Forgetting her foot pain, Mikan flipped her pink phone open. "Hey!"

A boy's voice was on the other line. "How's your morning? Slept well?"

Mikan giggled softly. "Well, actually, I just dropped my backpack on my foot, but it's alright now!"

"Are you sure? You wanna walk together?"

"No, it's okay, Ruka! You go ahead. I'm running late."

"_Ja._"

"Bye, Ruka!" Mikan snapped her phone shut and gently put it aside to brush her hair.

Reaching for her brush, she caught sight of her old ribbons, thrown carelessly aside, on the ground.

She sighed and picked them up. Mikan was itching to tie them up in her hair again, to step into her old self's shoes once more, but she dropped them on her vanity desk without another word.

She heard her phone ringing again, this time, a different ringtone. "Another call?" Mikan muttered.

_Could you see I want you by the way I push you away, Ya!  
Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today  
Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction Ya!  
_

_Hey!  
_

Mikan flipped open her phone again and chirped, "Hey! Get tangled up in me…"

"What?" The girl on the other end barked.

Mikan giggled nervously. "It's my ringtone. I'm just finishing the chorus."

"Oh. Does that mean you have a special ringtone for me?" The girl's voice suddenly perked up.

"Lawl, Chi-chi, of course I do!" Mikan laughed as she fiddled with her hair.

The girl—Chi-chi—laughed really loudly. So loud, in fact, it seemed as if it was right outside her door.

_Knock. Knock._

"Oh, good to see you today Sasaki-san!" Mikan's door exclaimed as it swung open.

**(A/N: Um… this was my little invention here, I made the doors, if you didn't notice, LOL, talk. Just to keep in mind: they don't let anybody in. They kind of **_**know**_**, who's whose enemy and who to let in and not to.)**

"Heyyyyy, Mikan!" The voice vibrated through her phone and room.

"_Mou_ (Jeez), Chi-chi, you should've just told me you were coming!" Mikan snapped her phone shut and plopped into a chair.

"Oh, c'mon, that's the whole point of a surprise, _baka_!" She flung her purse on Mikan's couch and put her hands on her hips.

Mikan smiled. Chiharu Sasaki, nicknamed "Chi-chi" or "Sasa-chan", was definitely a stunner. She was sixteen, had chocolate-brown eyes, and was bubbly, just like Mikan. But that was where the similarities stopped. Her super-straight, pure black hair was layered and almost reached her waist. Today, her shiny hair was put up in a complicated chignon, leaving some loose strands of her hair framing her flawless face.

Her skin wasn't very tan, but when you looked at her, never in a million years would you think she was pale. Her light skin _glowed_, especially on her face. Mikan saw that even though Chiharu only put on very little make-up, she was still…amazing. Her lips were shiny and light-pink, her eyelashes were long and dark, and thanks to the job of some light blue eyeshadow, her eyes seemed bigger and more defined than usual.

"Ah, whatevz. I'm here to put some _make-up_ onto your face." Chiharu grinned.

Mikan's eyes widened and she quickly hid behind her bed covers. "Na-uh!"

"Oh _yes._"

"Na-uh!" Mikan felt bad about refusing her friend's good intentions, but something about make-up kind of scares her. Her grandfather always stressed the idea of "natural beauty", and she felt she would be betraying him if she ever put on make-up.

"Mikan," Chiharu said exasperatedly, "it's time for you to _grow-up_ and put some make-up on!"

"I don't want to!" Mikan's voice was muffled under her bed covers.

"You let Misaki put some on you during the talent show!" Chiharu retorted.

"That was different. I don't _need_ make-up when I'm just going to school!"

"Put the make-up on."

"_Iieee-aahhhh!_" Mikan giggle-screamed.

"Well, I'm going to _force you!_" Chiharu yanked the bed covers off the bed, leaving Mikan unprotected. On purpose, Chiharu laughed like an evil villain and chased Mikan into the bathroom.

"Heyyyy, no fair, you trapped me!" Mikan wailed as she pouted.

Chiharu, managing to grab her purse while chasing Mikan, locked the bathroom door and dumped her purse's contents onto the bathroom conter.

"Hmm… let's see…" Chiharu rummaged through the junk.

"Lip gloss? Yes, yes, that's a must…" Chiharu started murmuring to herself.

"Lip-liner? Naah…"

Mikan, on the side, watched meekly as Chiharu started getting more excited.

"Eyeliner? Definite-yes. Oh, _mou_, where's the glitter one?"

"Hmm… eyebrow pencil… no need." Chiharu threw the thin stick to the side carelessly.

"Mascara, duh." Chiharu dropped the black tube to the now-growing pile of cosmetics.

"Blush, yes."

"Foundation, che, of course!"

"Uh, Chichi?" Mikan finally interrupted.

"WHAT?" Chiharu snapped, turning to her.

Mikan pointed to the clock. "School's gonna start in 25 minutes."

"KYAAA!" Chiharu's face showed panic. She hastily swiped a rectangular box from the counter, dipped a weird stick-like thing into the pink powder, and lifted it up.

"Sit here and close your eyes." Chichi pointed to the chair and Mikan obeyed.

"Hey… that tickles!" Mikan fought the fits of laughter threatening to come out.

"Stop moving!" Chichi snapped.

"Chichi… _kowai_ (scary)!" Mikan smiled softly to herself. Chiharu was the kind of person everyone wanted to be around. She was _very_ preppy and stylish. A total girly-girl and definitely the cheerleader type. Why was she hanging around Mikan's group, when she could have been in Sumire's popular group? Mikan didn't know. But she was glad Chiharu was with her, not on the "dark side".

"Okay, Mikan, now open your eyes, and do not blink. I repeat: _do not blink!_ Got it, girl?"

Mikan nodded once, for "got it".

Chiharu then began to use some weird porcupine-like stick to apply black powder to Mikan's eyelashes.

"Chichi… what is that scary-looking thing?" Mikan, trying her hardest not to blink, said.

Chiharu rolled her eyes. "It's called a mascara wand, Mikan. The other one was eyeshadow and glitter eyeliner."

"Oh. What else are you going to use?"

"Hmm… probably, after mascara, some foundation, then blush, and finally, lip-gloss."

"Well, hurry up, school's almost starting." Mikan pouted.

**Five minutes later…**

"There! All done." Chiharu clapped her hands in delight and pulled Mikan's shoulders to she was facing the mirror. "Do ya _love_ it, or do ya _love_ it?"

Mikan blinked as she stared at the strange-looking girl that Chichi claimed to be _her_.

"Wow" was all Mikan could whisper. "J'adore!"

Chichi squealed and hugged Mikan. "Okay, I'm gonna be coming over everyday now, got it? No escaping, I _know_ you like it."

Mikan giggled. "Alright, you win. Let's go!"

Chichi's laughing face turned serious as she grabbed Mikan's wrist. "Not so fast, Mikan."

Mikan cocked her head to the side. "What?"

Chichi shrugged innocently.

"We have to do your hair!"

Mikan groaned as Chichi dragged her in the bathroom once more and the whole cycle repeated again.

* * *

"Chichi… everyone's staring at us," Mikan whispered nervously.

"No, just you!" Chichi chirped, winking at her.

"Thanks a lot. That makes me feel _so _much better," Mikan grumbled.

"Don't worry, be confident and strut your stuff!"

Mikan took a deep breath, then held her head high. Her heels clacked against the tile floor as she and Chichi sauntered their way to Class C.

"Oh-hai-you!" Mikan and Chichi chorused.

**(A/N: Okay, I'm making it seem like Mikan and Chichi are **_**best**_** friends. Yes, they're good friends, but Hotaru is still Mikan's **_**ichiban**_** (Number 1)!)**

"Oh-hai-you!" A bunch of boys came running their way.

Mikan winked at Chichi and walked away.

"HEYYY! Mikan, wai—" But it was too late. Chichi was already engulfed by the swarm of fan boys.

"Chichi-sama… please go out with me!"

A punch was heard. "Don't go out with _that_ loser! Go with me!"

"You wanna go, punk?" Somebody tripped and fell flat on their face.

"You wanna take this outside, loser?"

"Hey… where did Chichi-sama go?"

Mikan giggled as she caught sight of part of Chichi's miniskirt hiding behind a pillar. Once the fan-boys left, she came out of her hiding place and sat in her seat, which was diagonal from Mikan's.

That was the weird thing about Chichi. She was a total flirt, but she never accepts any proposals, no matter how hot the guy was.

"God, those immature –" Chichi went on to call her fan boys a very bad name.

"_Re-laax_, Chichi. It's not a bad thing that the men are head-over-heels for you… literally." Mikan chuckled.

"Shut up!" Chichi smiled. "I'm saving myself for somebody else."

"Hey Mikan." Ruka slid into the seat next to Mikan.

"_Oh-hai-you_, _baka_." Chichi smiled and made room for Hotaru, who sat next to Chichi. Hotaru's seat was directly in front of Mikan's.

Mikan smiled. "_Oh-hai-you, _Hotaru, Ruka!"

Mikan turned to Chichi, and perked up. "_Hontoni_ (Really)? _Dare, dare_ (Who, who)?"

Chichi leaned forward so she could whisper into Mikan's ear. "It's H—"

"Okay, _quiet down_." Jinno growled. "Narumi isn't here today, so I'll be taking his place."

The class groaned.

Ignoring the groans, Jinno went on. "We have a new student today, please welco—"

"_Urasai_ (Shut up), Jin-Jin." A voice behind the classroom door drawled.

The class gasped, and widened their eyes.

Jinno looked like he wanted to choke something. "So…" he seethed. "Please welco—"

Without waiting for Jinno to finish, the classroom door opened with a slam and a boy with messy hair covering his eyes walked up to the front of the room.

He swept the hair out of his eyes, and the most of the class gasped.

The boy locked eyes with the people sitting in the back row, namely, Ruka and Mikan, and stared.

Jinno cleared his throat. "This—"

"My name's Hyuuga Natsume." The boy interrupted.

* * *

**Ooh another cliffy. Oh well. I managed to make it pretty long, but not as long as the last chapter, I think! You know what I think? I'd rather write long chapters and update a little slower than write short and choppy chapters and update fast. What do you guys think? Review and tell me your thoughts! Thanks so much for all those reviewers out there… you guys are awesome. The song Mikan is singing before she dropped her backpack was "Wish by Sowelu". Ruka's ringtone on her phone is "The Way I Are by Timbaland" and Chi-chi's ringtone is "Get Tangled Up In Me by Skye Sweetnam".  
**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Pukite**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**Euca1995**

**Jazzflame**

**HinamoriSenna**

**Dominiqueanne**

**Masked Mistress**

** Thanks for reviewing, I luv yaa! **

**Peace Out!**

* * *

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	7. Chapter 7: The Masked Truth

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Oh. For some of the Japanese language, I expect you to know most of the ones that I've mentioned many times in previous chapters, so for the common ones, I'll stop writing the meaning in ( ) next to it. Gomen… most of the chapter is a flashback, but it's really necessary, for you guys to understand how Natsume was captured.**

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

—**Name— **That person's point of view. So, if it's **—Mikan—**, then it's her point of view.

* * *

_**Previously…**_

**Without waiting for Jinno to finish, the classroom door opened with a slam and a boy with messy hair covering his eyes walked up to the front of the room.**

**He swept the hair out of his eyes, and the most of the class gasped.**

**The boy locked eyes with the people sitting in the back row, namely, Ruka and Mikan, and stared.**

**Jinno cleared his throat. "This—"**

"**My name's Hyuuga Natsume." The boy interrupted.**

* * *

▬_Chapter Seven: The Masked Truth ▬_

The class let out another dramatic gasp, and whipped their heads around to the back row.

Mikan's eyes were wide, her fingers curled into fists. Ruka closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them, as if praying to God.

"Oh my god! It's Natsume Hyuuga! OH MY GOD! HE STILL LOOKS AS HOT AS EVER!" Some girls screamed in unison.

Jinno seemed to take deep breaths and count to ten in his head. "This is Hyuuga Natsume. He was a student here four years ago, before… yes; he was a student here four years ago." Jinno repeated, a little awkwardly.

"Who would like to be Hyuuga's partner," Jinno grunted. All of the girls raised their hand, except for Hotaru and Mikan. Chichi would have raised her hand, but she knew about the long history between her friends and Hyuuga before she arrived, so she didn't.

Jinno smiled—grimaced—evilly before barking, "Sakura!"

Mikan stood up immediately. She feared Jinno more than anything. "_Hai?"_

"You were Hyuuga's partner before, and you will be now."

Mikan's fully glossed mouth dropped open, and her glittery eyes widened. She was about to protest when she realized Natsume was sauntering toward her seat.

She gulped and stared at him.

Natsume stopped at their row and glared at Ruka. Ruka suddenly remembered that he was sitting in Natsume's old seat, which was the middle of the three seats in the row. He was a little scared of Natsume, but no way was Ruka going to move, because if he did, then Natsume would be sitting in between Mikan and Ruka.

So, Ruka glared back and growled, "What do you want?"

Natsume kept his glare fierce, but stayed silent.

Mikan was a little scared of the glaring contest between them. She addressed Natsume. "Go… sit..." she said quietly as she pointed to the empty seat next to Ruka.

"You're my partner, so I should sit next to you." Natsume smirked.

"I… I…" Mikan stuttered, glancing from Ruka to Natsume, back and forth.

"Nogi! Let Hyuuga sit there." Jinno yelled from the front of the room.

The class's mouths were wide open from disbelief. Was Jinno taking Natsume's side? It certainly seemed like it.

Meanwhile, Jinno, at the front of the room was thinking, _Mwaha. Time to get back at Sakura for not attending her fifty eight overdue math detentions._

Ruka gritted his teeth but scooted over a seat, so there was a space between Mikan and himself. Natsume's frown turned into another smirk as he gently brushed past Mikan's bare legs to get to his seat.

Mikan's face was a little pink, and it did not go unnoticed by Ruka.

"Sakura, you will attend to any of Hyuuga's needs for this week," Jinno said calmly.

Mikan's mascara-covered eyes blinked rapidly in anger and embarrassment.

"Now," Jinno turned around so he was facing the chalkboard, "let's commence our mathematics lesson."

* * *

—**Mikan—**

_Doushite… DOUSHITE? _I felt my face heat up as Natsume brushed past me and plopped into his seat next to mine.

He's finally back! I… I just can't believe it… it's too good to be true! But wait… what about Ruka?

I glanced at Ruka, whose expression was pained and angry.

What about the life I established… the life I finally managed to get, without Natsume?

I felt like two sides of my soul were fighting. You wouldn't call one the "devil" and the "angel". A more accurate name would be "Yay" or "Nay".

I felt my "Yay" side rejoice Natsume's return. Oh, how I wanted to cry and hug him like there's no tomorrow.

But, my "Nay" side had a point. No matter how my heart felt, I was still angry at Natsume. All that pent-up anger from four years was _dying_ to just go all out.

"_Doushiyo _(What should I do)…?

I couldn't just throw away Ruka! Definitely not. I made up my mind. I was going to keep my life without Natsume.

I kept repeating to myself: He means nothing to you. He means nothing to you. He means nothing to you.

The "Nay" side grew bigger. Soon, I felt it overpower the "Yay" side.

But wait… I finally have Natsume back… isn't that all I wanted, these four years? I almost killed myself wishing he would come back! I finally have the chance to be with him again, and I'm THROWING THE CHANCE AWAY?

No way! Definitely not.

_Definitely not… definitely not…_ What the heck? I can't throw Ruka away, yet I can't lose Natsume again.

_Doushiyo?!_

* * *

_BANG_!

Mikan jerked forward and blinked. The whole class was looking at her sympathetically. Mikan Sakura knew that look.

_Heavens, what did I do now?_ Mikan thought miserably. She stole a glance at Natsume and she saw he was smirking.

Ha. Big surprise, right?

Finally, she looked up at the front of the room, where Jinno was pointing his wand-like thing at her.

"Sakura. Do you have a problem you would like to share with the class?" It seemed as if Jinno was trying to keep his voice steady.

On one hand, he looked like he was about to explode at any minute. On the other hand, if you really listen closely, it seems like he's trying to keep from crying.

Which was quite hilarious.

Mikan flashed an apologetic smile, hoping to be off the hook this time. "_Iie, _Jin-Ji—nno. Jinno-sensei."

"Well, then, stop BANGING YOUR DAMN DESK, SAKURA!" Jinno suddenly snarled.

Mikan widened her eyes at the sudden outburst. "Oh… _gomenasai_."

Jinno grunted, and then turned his attention to his beautiful chalk board. "I hope there aren't any more interruptions. Tobita! Question four!"

Yuu stood up immediately. "_Hai!_"

Mikan exhaled slowly. _Phew.  
_

* * *

After listening to Jinno's lectures for eighty minutes, the class was finally dismissed.

Mikan swung her bag over her shoulder and stormed out the second Jinno dismissed them.

Natsume, on the other hand, finally lifted his D-Gray Man manga off his face and sat there stonily.

Suddenly, he turned to Chichi. "Who are you?"

Chichi looked surprised. "My name's Chiharu Sasaki. People call me Chichi or Sasa, but don't bother. You disgust me." Chiharu grabbed her stuff and slammed the door open, running after Mikan.

Ruka folded his arms across his chest. "What are you doing here?"

Natsume turned to him. "We need to talk."

"Oh? Well, I think there's nothing to talk about." Ruka stood up.

Natsume stood up too, but he was angry. "_The place_ at ten."

Before Ruka could protest, Natsume was already slamming the classroom door shut.

Ruka plopped back down into his seat and felt his forehead. "I think I'm going crazy, Imai."

Hotaru looked at him emotionlessly. "I think you shouldn't be so mean to him."

Ruka sat up immediately, gripping the desk table. "And why, do you think that?"

Hotaru stood up and gathered her things. "Because I have a brain. You should talk to him."

Ruka just stared at her.

"Well, see you," Hotaru murmured as she also walked out.

Ruka slouched and closed his eyes. "Haa…" he sighed.

* * *

—**Natsume—**

Was she avoiding me?

I turned corner after corner, running after her, but she never looked back.

What did I do wrong?

The next class started, and we all hurried back to our seats. I sat next to Mikan, but I felt like she was giving me the cold-shoulder.

What am I saying… she _is_ giving me the cold-shoulder. The only good side of this was that I didn't see any romance between Ruka and her so far.

Wait, _what the hell am I saying?_ Why do I even care about Mikan again? Four years have passed, four years! Maybe I'm just tricking myself. Just because I loved her four years ago doesn't mean that I love her now.

Same goes for her.

So why should I beat myself up with this pathetic situation? Ugh!

Enough with Mikan. What about my best friend? What did I do to _Ruka_? If anything, I should be mad at _him_, not the other way around!

He's the one that stole my girlfriend… wait… no.

I'm the one at fault. It's all my fault.

Yeah… all my fault… all my fault that I got caught, all my fault that I rescued my classmates…

It's all my fault…

* * *

—**Ruka—**

Is he coming or not?

_The place_ used to be our hide out. Nobody knew where this was, and nobody ever found out. It was the perfect place to hide from fan-girls, and the world. As I stood there, I felt the wind brush past me, making my hair fly around.

Is he coming or not?

This is just stupid. I should just leave. I brushed off the dirt on my pants and stood up. But then, I heard the familiar sound of someone coming.

Natsume's head poked out from the window. He always entered from the window.

I sighed inwardly. It was all too familiar. I wanted to forget the old times and start over new, but Natsume was making this hard on me.

But then again, is it really his fault? I remember Hotaru told me to not be mean to him.

He hoisted himself up using his arms and leapt down to the ground. "Hey," he said.

What could I say? "Hey," I replied.

He walked over to me and sat down on the floor. I did too. I didn't know what he was thinking, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

"I wanna get back to class ASAP, so whatever you wanna say, hurry up," I ended up saying. How lame.

Natsume looked up at me. I felt like he was X-raying me. He always had that look about him. Some things never change.

"What?" I snapped.

"How have you been?"

I blinked. _That_ was not the thing I expected him to say.

"You're not going to talk about Mikan?" I blurted.

He smirked. "I will. But I'm not getting to that yet. How have you been?"

I sat down next to him and took a deep breath. "Never mind how I've been. How have _you_ been?"

He sighed. "Let's not get into the details, alright?"

I nodded. Something came between us. Perhaps the link of friendship? Who knows.

"Natsume… let's be friends again," I whispered. Okay, that sounded lame, again.

He frowned. "What do you mean, _again_? We were always friends and still are."

That didn't sound like the old Natsume. That sounded like the new Natsume, the one that got captured by the AAO and experienced pain and loneliness.

We slapped a high-five and pulled each other up.

"So, what about Mikan?" I asked.

"Well, of course, you know that I'll do whatever I can to get her back." Natsume smirked.

"That sounds like the old you," I murmured to myself.

"What?" Natsume looked at me.

"_Betsuni_ (Nothing)."

"Tch. Whatever. I want you to help me get her to at least talk to me, Ruka."

My eyes widened with surprise. "And, why do you think I'll help you?"

He was clearly expecting this question. "Because you're my friend."

* * *

—**Mikan—**

He's _still_ following me! What kind of stalker _is he_?

UGH! I felt like screaming. Couldn't Natsume just _leave me alone_ for like, a minute?

But _noooo_… he's still not giving up. Get this: I'm afraid to use the restroom. That's right. You know why? Because I bet once I come out, he'll be waiting for me in front of the door, and I'll be cornered!

Like hell I'm going to make that happen. So no bathroom breaks for me today.

I sighed. I just saw him flash by a corner.

Wait… I felt a light bulb ding in my head. I should just teleport!

I stopped in my tracks. I heard Natsume stop too. Heh. He was probably wondering what I was doing.

"See ya," I whispered before disappearing.

The truth is, teleporting makes my stomach… pretzel. In other words, it makes me nauseous. Persona always gets angry about this, he somehow thinks that if I teleport more often, the "pretzel" feeling would go away.

But it didn't. So hell to that.

I didn't teleport far. When I materialized in front of the Special Abilities class, everyone was shocked.

"It's _Mikan!_" Someone shouted.

After that, all hell broke loose. Misaki and all my other former S.A. classmates came at me with a bear hug.

It was… cute. If I was my old self, I would've enjoyed it. But now… um, personal bubble, please?

"Hey. Hey, personal bubble!" I giggle-screamed, fighting my way out of their embrace.

Misaki came at me. "How's Tsubasa doing? Is he okay?"

I grimaced. Almost a year after I got transferred to Dangerous Abilities, Tsubasa transferred too. According to Persona, his "abilities" were needed at the time.

They never let him go after that. Like me, he was chained to the Dangerous Abilities. Not literally, of course, but figuratively.

"He's okay, Misaki-senpai. Just a few wounds from the last mission, nothing fatal." I felt a pang of sympathy for Misaki. It must hurt having your boyfriend suddenly transfer to the most dangerous and mysterious class of the Academy.

"You see, he doesn't really talk to me anymore…" Misaki stopped and suddenly took hold of my shoulders and shook them.

"How are you, Mikan? I heard… Natsume was back. Is this true? What are you going to do? What about Ruka? What do you think about this?"

"Wh-hoa, _Misaki-senpai!_" She finally stopped shaking me and I sighed. "Please don't ask me that, now. I'm still… a big mess."

Misaki's eyes softened. "Of course, Mikan. Of course."

But she didn't understand. Nobody did. I was on my own. The thought of it made me want to cry in a corner.

Instead, I lifted my chin up. "Do you want to tell Tsubasa-senpai anything? I'm going to go visit him."

Misaki's sad eyes lit up. "Yeah! Tell him that I'm going to be his date for the Hana Dance no matter what he says!"

I giggled a little. "_Hai-hai_," I said, before walking out the door.

Big mistake.

* * *

"OW!" Two heads collided, and the owners of those heads fell to the ground.

"What—" Mikan stammered.

"Polka-dots?" The messy, raven-colored-haired boy stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants.

"I… uh…" Mikan stammered. She was shaking her head as if a bee was buzzing in her ear.

_Shoot—why did I have to bump into _him_? Somebody save me… I'll love you forever!_

"Natsume! It's _you!_" A flirtatious voice suddenly called out. Mikan watched in curiosity as a pair of unknown arms wrapped around Natsume's waist.

"Wha—" The next second, Sumire's hair—yes, she was the one who daringly hugged Natsume—was on fire and she was screeching like a bird.

"Mi—" Natsume looked around. Mikan disappeared.

* * *

"Oh my god. That was a close one," Mikan muttered to herself. She teleported to the Dangerous Abilities office the moment Natsume felt Permy's arms around him.

_Never in a thousand years would I believe myself… but thank you, Permy._ Mikan thought.

"Tsubasa-senpai!" Mikan yelled, running down the long corridors.

A blue-haired, tall, lanky stud came into view. He cocked his head to the side and acknowledged Mikan with a nod and one word: "'Sup."

Mikan grinned. "Message from Misaki: She's going to be your date for the Hana Dance no matter what you say. In other words, you're cornered, Tsubasa-senpai!"

Tsubasa laughed a little. "Um. Okay. You know Misaki."

"I _do_, in fact. And she's really sad, also mad, because you aren't talking to her anymore. Is there something wrong?" Mikan leaned against the wall and crossed her arms.

"Uh, no. I was sick, remember? _Mou_, that Misaki…" Tsubasa rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, he seemed to lose his train of thought and stared at Mikan.

Annoyed, Mikan snapped, "What?"

Tsubasa shook his head slowly. "I heard Natsume's back."

Mikan narrowed her eyes. "So what?"

Tsubasa chuckled. "I imagine that you are avoiding him, _ne_? You used to face problems head-on, without any fear. Think about when you saved Natsume from the AAO when you were 10 year-olds. Amazing. But look at you now… what has happened?"

"I've changed, Tsubasa. Simple as that."

Tsubasa winced a little because there wasn't the usual "senpai" after his name. "Look, don't get all grumpy on me, okay? If you have any problems or questions, just come to me."

He turned to leave, but was stopped when Mikan grabbed his arm. He turned around again, and saw that Mikan's eyes were shadowed by her hair. She looked sad.

"I… I want to know…" Mikan stammered.

"Yes, what?"

"I want to know… the truth." Mikan finally looked up straight into Tsubasa's eyes.

"What… truth?" Tsubasa looked away.

"The truth. The truth about Natsume's mission. I know the rumors. I trust Natsume. I don't think he joined the AAO."

Tsubasa closed eyes and sighed.

"I have so many questions… you're the only one that can answer them," Mikan pleaded.

"No… I can't tell you, Mikan, I'm sorry." Tsubasa gently wrestled his arm away from Mikan.

"WHY? Are you afraid I can't handle the truth?" Mikan said tearfully.

Tsubasa ignored her and kept walking down the hall.

"TSUBASA-SENPAI!" Mikan was screaming. She didn't chase after him. She didn't do anything except scream.

Tsubasa didn't have the heart to continue ignoring her. He whipped around and sighed, again. "Okay… let's go to your room."

* * *

Tsubasa yawned and put his hands behind his head. He was slumped on a chair in Mikan's room. "What do you want to know?"

Mikan cupped her chin with her hands. "Everything."

"Um. Okay. I'm afraid I don't know everything though. You're going to have to ask Natsume himself for the missing gaps," Tsubasa reminded Mikan.

"Whatever… just start from the beginning."

Tsubasa took a deep breath…

—**Tsubasa's Flashback—**

_Today was the day. The most high-class mission ever and I never felt this scared. Transferring from the "nobodies of the S.A. class" to the infamous D.A. class… the change was too sudden._

"_Natsume." I heard Persona call. Natsume was his favorite. Though you could never tell just by looking at him, Natsume was practically Persona's puppet. Persona pulled the strings, and Natsume moved. All of us, the D.A. students, were chained to the burden of the Academy._

_I never cherished my S.A. days as much as now. Sudden reality struck me, and I realized I could never see Misaki, Mikan, and my classmates ever again. It was like a blow to the stomach, but worse. It shattered my heart._

_But I couldn't think those thoughts now. I grabbed Natsume and hurried to Persona. I was chattering non-stop on purpose, to hide my fear, and probably trying to "talk" it away._

_But, it didn't work. The next thing I knew, under the black midnight sky, we were off._

_Our mission objective only took up two words._

_Kill Yuka._

* * *

Mikan widened her eyes and froze. "Kill… Yuka… my mother?"

Tsubasa closed his eyes. "Don't interrupt," he snapped.

"Oh. _Gomen_."

* * *

_The three of us, Natsume, Nobara, and me, used an Alice stone to teleport to a place near the AAO building where Yuka was. It was best to not use Alices in the area, because the AAO could detect Alice waves._

_But once we were in there, the surprise factor would be gone._

_Nobara was shivering, as usual. She was like Persona's doll. Pretty, weak, and helpless. I didn't know how an arrogant toe rag like Natsume became Persona's puppet, but things happen. I didn't know where I stand in the happy toy family, but I didn't think I wanted to know._

"_Split." Natsume was the leader of this mission. I knew he was hurting inside. This mission was top-secret, so Natsume probably didn't tell Mikan. If he succeeded in this mission, Mikan would be hurt, and Natsume, in turn, would be hurt as well. If he failed, then he would suffer the punishment of: Persona, or the AAO, if they were caught._

_I shook my head and ran off in a different direction, separating myself from Natsume and Nobara. Our first goal: find Yuka's location._

_After about ten minutes of searching, I tracked her down. I didn't dare approach her, but hearing her voice and her name was enough evidence. I hid behind a corner, far enough for me to go unseen by her, but close enough for me to stalk them carefully. I lifted my wrist up to my lips and murmured, "Subject found…" I looked around for any unique marks of the building so the others would catch up. "Northwest building, red painted walls. Pinpoint activated."_

"_Hai." I faintly heard two voices whisper through my earpiece. I attempted to slow my erratic heart beat, with no avail. Soon, Natsume and Nobara joined me._

_I nodded in Yuka's direction. They got it. I noticed Natsume seemed a little out of it when he stared at Yuka… probably because she looked so much like Mikan, except for Yuka's eyes. They were brown, like Mikan's, but hard and cold._

"_Neko. Focus." We couldn't call each other by our real names, or else we would probably be tracked and hunted down._

"_Shadou-tsu. Look." Nobara pointed to Yuka, who was coming their way._

_They immediately scurried away. It was too soon to attack._

"_Okay… what do we do now?" I wondered._

_To be honest, I felt really scared. The sky was pitch-black, and without a light, you couldn't see your hand in front of you in the darkness. Without light, there was no shadow. Without a shadow, I was useless._

_It makes me wonder why the hell I was put onto this mission._

"_Here's the deal. When we see someone attacking us, I use my Alice to create hikari (Light). Shadou-tsu, you have to immediately pinpoint their shadow and step on it immediately. We can't waste time. Then, Shiro-hime… freeze them to death." Natsume's breathing was ragged, and uneven. I wondered if he was alright._

"_Hey Neko… NEKO!" Natsume suddenly collapsed onto the floor. I turned his body over, and I realized he had a spreading wound on his back. Somebody shot him._

"_Hey, Shinto. I think I hear voices over there."_

_Shibata (Shit)!_ _We were discovered. Why did Natsume have to collapse? I can't use my Alice without him!_

_Suddenly, as if God listened to my prayer, Natsume's eyes fluttered open and he spotted the people coming toward us. With pain, I'm sure, a fireball appeared in his palm and I secretly thanked him. I immediately stepped on the two men's shadows and punched each once. The second I finished the blows, I felt a bone-chilling wind and I knew Nobara was doing her amazing work._

_All of a sudden, Nobara yelped and dropped her hand which was emitting the ice. "Shiro-hime!" I stepped off the men's shadows and ran over to her, where she fell to the ground._

"_Shiro—" I stopped. I just realized somebody was standing behind her. Someone familiar…_

_Yuka was frowning at us, including Natsume. "Look what we have here. I remember you, Kuro Neko. You were lucky I didn't steal your Alice during the Z." She opened her palm, and a pale, white Alice stone laid there._

"_Shiro-hime, I assume this is your Alice? It's very beautiful, I must admit. Too bad you're never going to have it back now."_

_Nobara whimpered and stared fearfully at Yuka, tears forming in her eyes._

"_Please… Yuka-san…" Nobara was pleading. I looked away. It was too pathetic._

"_Tch. Shiro. Don't plead with the enemy. It's pathetic." I sighed as Natsume voiced my thoughts as if he could read my mind._

"_You three came here for something, didn't you, hn?" Yuka threw the stone in the air and caught it confidently. She seemed like she was still a nineteen-year-old teenager._

"_Hn." Everyone knew where _that _came from._

"_Tell me."_

"_Hn."_

"_Don't test my patience, Kuro Neko-chan."_

"_Tch. Hn."_

"_Urasai (Shut up)! You don't own the word." Yuka pocketed the milky white stone and reached out her hand to touch Natsume's head. The gesture, to an outsider, even seemed mother-like, but we knew better. Natsume was weak, and had slow reaction time, so I immediately pushed Natsume out of the way. He fell to the floor, and I felt Yuka's hand come in contact with me._

_I heard myself moan. The pain was sharp and sudden, but when it was all over, the hollow feeling inside me stayed._

"_Ah. Looks like this wasn't what I was looking for, but nice all the same." She tossed the stone again. I never saw my Alice stone before, so looking at the pure black stone was definitely a memorable experience. My stone was completely black, and—I wasn't sure—there was a big, jagged scratch in the middle._

"_Shadou-tsu!" Nobara said, reaching out her hand to touch mine. I turned away. The hollow-soul-sucking feeling was still there._

_Yuka laughed. I could not, and still cannot, believe that she's Mikan's mother. Mikan doesn't deserve this kind of mother._

"_No use using your kawaii nicknames, Ibaragi Nobara. Same goes for you, Andou Tsubasa. Research can do that, you know? Oh, and how could I forget? Hyuuga Natsume. Your initials spell 'H.N.' don't they? But you still don't own the word 'hn'," Yuka hissed, pocketing the black stone as well as the white one._

"_Hyuuga Natsume, you're next!" Yuka swiped her hand over the place where Natsume was, luckily, he dodged to the side._

_I watched on the sidelines with terror. "Tsubasa." Natsume's voice suddenly filled my head. _

_He activated his part of the borrowed "Mind-reading and Communicating" Alice. I activated mine as well. "Natsume."_

"_When I activate my Alice, use the chance to take the Alice stones from Yuka's right pocket. Then run. I'll complete this mission myself."_

_I widened my eyes. "What about you?"_

"_Don't worry about me!" His voice snapped in my mind._

"_If you honestly think I'm going to leave you—"_

_Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natsume's Fire Alice activate. Flames danced across the walls and the room heated up. Smoke made our visions blurry… it seemed as if everything, including the walls were moving back and forth._

_I quickly pounced onto Yuka, wrestling the stones from her pocket. I realized there were not only 2, there were many more! I had no time to pick particular ones, I grabbed them all._

"_Shiro! Let's GO!" I roared, reaching my hand out to grab Nobara's._

"_What about Natsume-kun?" She caught my hand and started running with me._

"_He'll be fine! Run faster! Yuka's coming!"_

_Nobara screamed as part of the ceiling collapsed because of the flames. Luckily, Yuka was blocked from getting with them._

_The bad thing was, it was now impossible for Natsume to run out with us._

"_Tsubasa! GO!" were the last words I heard from Natsume as he was engulfed by his own flames._

* * *

**YAY! No cliffies! I know I've been cliffie-loving for a couple chapters. Anyway… I know this chapter is about 900 words shorter than the last one, but c'mon, I think a 5,000 something word chapter is enough. I can't write too long chapters. Especially, since I'm starting a new fanfiction. Here's some information and I hope you can support me!**

**Name: The Unlucky Girl**

**Current Status: Writing Chapter 1**

**Summary: **To Mikan Sakura, anything that concerns her is poisoned. Her mother and father separated and she lives in a poor house with her mother, who is getting sicker by day. Her father doesn't care about them, now that he has his own new family with his new wife. In order to get more money, Mikan becomes a bar singer, which she keeps a secret from her family. Everything in Mikan's life is going wrong, but will something finally be right when she meets Natsume and Ruka?

**Interesting? I hope so! I'm working hard on it! So… I know you guys are really busy, so please, if you want to read the story the moment it gets out, please add me as one of your author alerts! Thanks! Love you all! And thanks to my summer beta-reader, xSTICKYxNOTEx! Domo-arigatou! She did an amazing job editing this.**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Pukite**

**xXStarryangelzXx**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**princessofcrown101**

**goddessAngela **

**Dominiqueanne**

**xSTICKYxNOTEx**

**Thank you, my supporters! I'm working hard!**

**Cyaaaa!**

* * *

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	8. Chapter 8: The Hana Dance

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

—**Name— **That person's point of view. So, if it's **—Mikan—**, then it's her point of view.

**Beta-reader: xSTICKYxNOTEx**

* * *

_**Previously…**_

"**Shiro! Let's GO!" I roared, reaching my hand out to grab Nobara's.**

"**What about Natsume-kun?" She caught my hand and started running with me.**

"**He'll be fine! Run faster! Yuka's coming!"**

**Nobara screamed as part of the ceiling collapsed because of the flames. Luckily, Yuka was blocked from getting with them.**

**The bad thing was, it was now impossible for Natsume to run out with us.**

"**Tsubasa! GO!" were the last words I heard from Natsume as he was engulfed by his own flames.**

* * *

▬_Chapter Eight: The Hana Dance ▬_

"So… that's all."

Mikan's face was as white as paper. Her lips were drained of their usual cherry-color as well.

"He… did that for you guys?" Mikan said slowly, as if she was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Tsubasa sighed and rested his cheek on his palm. He looked out the window and nodded.

Mikan took a deep breath and slumped onto a sofa, banging her head purposely onto the soft surface. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say?

"Now you understand the story. Can I go now?" Tsubasa asked, standing up. To be honest, he felt a little uncomfortable discussing Natsume around Mikan, seeing the pain she felt when he left.

"Huh?" Mikan snapped out of her daze.

"I have to go apologize to Misaki and ask her out!"

"Ask her out…?"

Tsubasa sighed. Mikan's brain was in a mess. "For the _Hana Dance_. Ring any bells?"

Mikan blinked. "Oh… oh, right."

Tsubasa put his hand on the doorknob. "If you can't find a partner, you can always dance with Hiro," he teased.

"TSUBASA-SENPAI!" Mikan wanted to throw something at her favorite senpai.

"_Jodai _(Just kidding)!" Tsubasa laughed as he went out.

"Have a good day, Andou-san," Mikan's door chirped, swinging open.

* * *

The moment Mikan went out of her room, she saw chaos.

"Get the flowers ready! _Get the flowers ready!_"

"_Mou_, what dress should I wear?"

"He rejected me!"

"Ew, who would dance with _him_?"

"But she's already dancing with him."

"I can't do it!"

"No, he's _mine!_"

"MINE!"

"MINE!"

"MINE!"

Mikan rolled her eyes at the bickering girls running down the hallway, fighting for a guy to dance with. All the mumbling stopped when they heard the sound of shattering glass and a shriek.

"MY MANICURE CHIPPED!" Sumire wailed.

Mikan slipped past all the people and went out to sit at her Sakura tree.

* * *

As expected, Ruka was waiting for her, sitting on one of the tree's branches.

"Hey, Ruka-pyon!" Mikan fake-smiled as she climbed up next to him.

"Um… I just wanted to say sorry, about yesterday…"

"Oh… that. It's okay!" Mikan put on a reassuring smile and squeezed Ruka's hand comfortingly.

Ruka smiled in relief. "That means you'll go to the dance with me?"

"Of course!" Mikan smiled again. Oh gosh, there was that weird feeling in her heart again… what was it?

"I thought you'd never ask, Ruka-pyon!" Mikan continued teasingly.

Ruka put his hand on the back of his head in an apologetic way and said, "_Gomen, gomen!_"

Mikan shook her head and grinned. "See you at six!" She jumped off the branch and landed neatly on the ground. Mikan looked up and saw Ruka waving at her.

"_Mata-ne_!" Ruka was shouting from the tree. Mikan waved back and strolled toward her dorm.

She had a lot of work to do.

* * *

"NATSUME-SAMA!"

Natsume's manga dropped off his face as he sat up looking annoyed. What now?

"NATSUME-SAMA!" Stampedes of girls were running toward him, literally kicking up smoke with each step, making them look like bulls.

Natsume stood up and tucked his manga away. Sumire reached him first, but a second later, the other girls caught up and started shoving boxes of gifts to him.

_What did they want?_ He thought, trying to inch away, but to his dismay, found that the girls surrounded him in a huge circle. Their gleaming eyes made them seem like evil bitches.

"Ahem." Sumire cleared her throat, glaring at the other girls to back-off. "Natsume-_kuuun_? Um, I don't want you to be shy."

_What the hell was this girl talking about? _Natsume raised his eyebrows in annoyance.

"I mean—you know, you can always ask me to go to the dance with you…" Sumire suggested, batting her mascara-caked eyelashes.

Natsume nearly gagged. The girl was making him quite nauseas.

"Tch. Why would I go with any one of you? You're all disgusting brats to me." Natsume knew he shouldn't be so harsh, but he was in a bad mood because Mikan deliberately avoided him the whole day.

"N-Natsume-sama…" Sumire stuttered before breaking into sobs and running away with the other fan-girls.

* * *

"Anyway, he asked me! _Finally!_" Mikan exclaimed.

Anna, Nonoko, and Chichi squealed with delight. Hotaru just coolly looked at them all with a "what-a-idiot" expression. She reached for her baka gun, but decided against it.

_I'm sure they don't want bumps on their heads at the dance, _Hotaru thought.

"Annoying…" Hotaru muttered. "Get on with it."

"Oh… okay then!" Mikan hurried to her closet and pulled out a dress. She grabbed the hanger and ran over to Chichi, the fashion expert.

"Do you think this would be good on me, Chichi?" Mikan cocked her head to the side and took a look at her dress.

"Hmm… body-clinging dress, hm? Slit on the side helps you move normally, playful cuts and ruffles show originality and style…" Chichi also cocked her head to the side. "Strapless dress… definitely will show off Mikan's sexy bare shoulders and quite a bit of her chest…"

Mikan turned red and immediately snatched the dress away from Chichi's view. "Never mind!" She hollered and tossed the dress in her closet.

"Hey, hey! That one is perfect!" Chichi looked at Mikan in disbelief as she took the dress out of the closet once more and held it firmly in her hands. "Go!" Chichi pushed Mikan into the bathroom and closed the door forcefully.

"CHICHI!" Mikan screamed, her frown turning into a pout.

Outside the door, Chichi was evaluating Anna's dress that Anna brought from her room. There were only three hours before the Hana Dance started, and they had to pick dresses, do make-up, and any final touch-ups.

Chichi was going with Ryou, a tall, handsome, red-haired fan-boy of hers. He was one year older than Chichi and his hair reminded Mikan of Hiro, however much she didn't want to. They honestly looked good together, even though Chichi confessed to Mikan that she didn't love him in that way.

Anna, as usual, was going to the dance with Koko. They were a cute couple, but Mikan always wondered how long the relationship would last since Koko could read everyone's minds.

Finally, Nonoko was going with Yuu, the _Iinchou_. Both of them were smart and intelligent, but Nonoko was a little crazier, because of her Alice. But still, they were a nice couple. Yuu would _never_ have the guts to cheat on Nonoko. That was a thumbs-up.

"Hotaru… are you going with anyone?" Chichi asked as she pinched Nonoko's dress fabric, making sure it was suitable for Nonoko's sensitive skin.

"No. I'm hosting, again."

"Who's hosting with you?" Anna chimed in, sucking in her stomach in an attempt to make the dress fit better.

"Ruka."

"Um…"

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and gasped. Mikan had just come out of the bathroom.

"What? Do I look ugly?" Mikan's voice raised a couple of pitches, which always happens when she's worried.

"OH MY GOD. Of course not!" Chichi ran to Mikan and circled around her. Even Hotaru couldn't resist the temptation to walk closer and take a better look at Mikan.

"OH MY GOSH!" Anna, Nonoko, and Chichi screamed, flapping their wrists like excited birds.

Using her baka gun, Hotaru fired a warning shot at the wall, just to remind them that she could shoot them at any time if they kept this up.

They all took the hint and backed away from Mikan, but their smiles couldn't hide how happy they were to see Mikan so beautiful.

"Anna, you're next." Chichi grabbed Anna's white dress and pushed Anna inside the bathroom. Anna giggled and obliged.

"Hotaru…" Mikan slowly approached her best friend. "Do you like it?"

Mikan wanted Hotaru's opinion; after all, she was her best friend.

Hotaru's eyes traveled from Mikan's bare shoulders, to the ruffles on bottom. "Yellow."

"_Nani?_" Mikan swore Hotaru said something.

"Yellow."

Mikan smiled. "Yeah, my dress is yellow. You know, 'cuz it's the Hana Dance, which means Flower Dance!"

"It looks nice," Hotaru finally mumbled after a moment.

Mikan lifted her fist and punched the air. "Yes!" She jumped up and down with Nonoko and Chichi.

"Wait… Mikan, are you going to change for your performance?" Chichi suddenly asked.

"Huh? Performance?" Mikan thought for a while, and then her expression turned into panic. "Oh no! I almost forgot!"

Mikan ran over to her desk beside her bed and hastily pulled out the top drawer. She sat on her bed and began murmuring at the paper she was clutching with her hands.

"What are you doing?" Hotaru peered over at Mikan.

"I forgot to practice my songs today! I'm going to perform two songs at the dance tonight."

"Oh…" Nonoko nodded. "I get it."

Hotaru ripped the paper out of Mikan's hands and lifted it out of Mikan's reach. Mikan groped for it dumbly, but she wasn't tall enough, since she was still sitting on the bed, and Hotaru was standing.

"Stop practicing. You practiced everyday so far and it's annoying," Hotaru said.

"I second that," Chichi chimed in, disposing the lyric sheet into the wastebasket.

"_Mou_, you guys!" Mikan sighed. "Whatever. Misaki's going to do my make-up, so can you do my hair, Chichi?"

Chichi beamed. "Of course!"

* * *

"Welcome to the Hana Dance!" Ruka's voice boomed. This time, he was wearing a black blazer. As usual, his appearance looked very handsome. He looked like a true gentleman.

"For tonight, the first thirty minutes will be spent watching a few performers. Refreshments will be passed around by waiters, so don't hesitate to eat while watching the show if you are hungry." Hotaru's emotionless voice was after Ruka's. Even though her voice was toneless, everyone felt that she was a good host. Her words were clearly enunciated, and she didn't mumble or even stutter, once. Also, she was wearing a pretty silk black blouse that had a few ruffles on the collar.

Mikan was backstage, silently cheering her best friend on. Chichi, Anna, and Nonoko were also backstage, wishing Mikan luck before she went on. This time, there were only four performers, and Mikan was the third one.

Her sunny dress radiated her beauty and gentleness that was equal to that of a goddess's. A yellow tulip clipped onto her hair truly made her look like the princess of this dance. Her brown locks were let down and slightly curled at the ends, thanks to Chichi's wonderful work. Misaki put a little bit of body glitter on Mikan's chest, arms, and legs so she shined even more than she did already. Black eyeliner, mascara, and sparkling gold eye shadow defined Mikan's eyes to perfection. Of course, her hot pink lips finished the amazing look.

"I'm so nervous!" Mikan was whispering to her friends.

"Don't worry… you were great last time, and that was your first time! So this time, you'll be _even better_!" Nonoko reassured her friend.

Mikan let out a dry chuckle. "I hope so!" She hugged her knees to her chest and put her head down.

"Mikan! Head up and back straight!" Chichi shouted.

"Huh?" Mikan was too busy thinking about her song.

"Stop slouching, Mikan! _Mou_, did all that lecture all go to waste?"

"Uh, no… not at all!" Mikan immediately replied. No way was she going to listen to Chichi lecture her about the art of keeping your chin up for two hours again.

No _freakin' _way.

* * *

This show was better than the talent show. The first performers played the violin and piano, forming a beautiful duo. The audience clapped politely at the good performance. They made no mistake, but it was a little boring. Next up was a boy band called "X-Star". They were good rockers and held the audience's interest to the end. Everyone enjoyed it, but no one was amazed.

Mikan felt her stomach knot again as she clutched the microphone in her hands. It was true, she felt much better than she did last time she went on stage, but still, she felt nervous.

"You might remember her amazing performance from the Talent Show a couple days ago… it's Mikan Sakura!" Ruka beamed as he announced his girlfriend's name.

Mikan walked on stage as Ruka and Hotaru walked off the stage. Ruka smiled at Mikan and mouthed "_Ganbatte_" to her. Mikan smiled back and nodded in thanks.

Finally arriving in the center of the stage, she looked out into the audience and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. Her eyes searched for a certain person while she spoke.

"_Ohaiyou_, _miina, _once again. My name's Mikan Sakura and to celebrate the spring, I'm going to sing two songs for you tonight. The first is called _Rainy Days Never Stay _by the Brilliant Green, in honor of the wonderful spring rain. Thank you so much." Mikan bowed and tore her eyes away from the audience. She didn't see Natsume.

A couple helpers brought a chair onstage and Mikan's guitar. Her accompanists and back-up singers also stepped onstage. Mikan tilted the microphone toward her mouth and sat down on the chair. She peeked at Narumi and nodded.

Narumi gave the signal to the other accompanists while Mikan took a deep breath and began. Steadily strumming her guitar to the beat playing inside her head, she opened her mouth and sang.

**(Romanji—or what she's really singing--is in bold and the translation of the Romanji is in **_**italics**_**. Mikan's thoughts are in italicized parenthesis. The audience's thoughts are just regular un-bolded, un-italicized text. Sometimes she's actually singing English, so I won't put the translations.)**

**I always took the easy way  
Just sit around and say complaints  
It's now time to say goodbye**

The audience was anticipating for her performance, and was immediately captivated by her smooth voice and amazing English skills. Nobody knew that Mikan could play the guitar, except for Hotaru.

_(Natsume… I know you're there somewhere… I just wanted to tell you, if I knew you never came back because you saved Tsubasa-senpai and Nobara-chan, I would've never blamed you for anything. But, I didn't know. Just like I didn't know the day I fought with you was the last day I would see you until four years later.)_

**Ukabi agaru koukai wo  
**_My regrets rise up to the surface_**  
Tsukimatou yuuutsu wo  
**_And my melancholy dangles after them_**  
Sotto kumo ni nagashite  
**_They quietly float by on the clouds_

The sudden change from English to Japanese caught the audience by surprise.

_(Waiting all day was like being empty, empty, empty all day. Waiting for you…)_****

I will find the answer in my heart so...  
Ikutsu mo no sekai ga kowarete mo  
_No matter how often the world is broken apart_**  
Hatenai akogare ga kono mune ni furisosogu  
**_An endless yearning will downpour in my heart_

_(Natsume… did you think it was easy waiting for you? The endless yearning… for you… it never stopped, not even for a second)_

The drums suddenly picked up and Mikan started the chorus, strumming her guitar and singing with her eyes closed.

**Raining all day, going away  
Step out to be myself again  
Oikaketai, it's an amazing day!  
**_I want to chase after it, it's an amazing day!_**  
Raining all day has gone away  
Ano natsu no you ni  
**_Like that summer_**  
My dream...soba ni ite mitsukeru kara**_  
My dream...be with me, and I'll find it_

A certain raven-haired boy stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued staring at the beautiful brunette playing the guitar and singing, full of silent emotion. He ran his fingers through his messy hair, which he attempted to actually comb, but with no avail.****

Tanchou na hizashi to tanchou na nami ni_  
In the boring sunlight and boring waves__**  
**_**Kizu wa iete yuku**_  
My wounds are healing_

_(Ne… Natsume. Did you know? Ever since I met Ruka, part of my wounds started healing. That's why… I can't be with you. Being with you will cause my already healed wounds to hurt again, and cause other new scars.)__**  
**_**  
Fukai kokyuu no naka de yagate ame ni natte**_  
Amidst my deep breath, it will start raining soon__**  
**_**Umi ni tokeru kara**_  
And the rain will fuse into the sea__**  
**_**Koukai ga okubyou ni sugata wo kaete iku iya na hi mo**_  
My regrets change into cowardice on bad days__**  
**_**Kodoku ni tsukamaranai tsuyo sa wasurenai de**_  
I can't grasp a hold of my loneliness without forgetting strength_

_(I tried to be strong. I tried, I tried. I tried to be many things. I tried to forget, and most of all, I tried to throw away my regrets. But all my attempts never worked.)__**  
**_**  
Raining all day nando mo**_  
Raining all day, so many times__**  
**_**Furi kaeru yume wo akirameru koto ga kowakatta**_  
I was scared to give up on the dreams that I look back on__**  
**_**Raining all day  
Harenai yozora mo aru kedo**_  
The night sky is cloudy, but__**  
**_**Little star…ki ga tsuite**_  
Little star…realize that__**  
**_**Rainy days never stay**

**Hurry now, it's time to say goodbye, goodbye  
Sun is waiting for you to arrive, arrive  
Hurry now it's time to say goodbye, goodbye  
Door is open for you to...**

**Raining all day, going away  
Step out to be myself again  
Ima yasashii kaze wo ukete  
**_Now, taking in the gentle wind_**  
Raining all day has gone away  
Ano natsu ni nemuru, my dream...kiss me once again**_  
Sleeping in that summer, my dream...kiss me once again__**  
**_**I'll find a better way**

**Raining all day, going away  
Can't wait to go and spread my wings  
Blowing a kiss to me, hello amazing day!  
Raining all day has gone away  
Sunshine of mine, just be with me  
Keeping my heart warm as today  
Rainy days never stay**

Mikan slowly opened her eyes as the drums slowly faded away and the song ended. The audience immediately stood up and gave her a standing ovation. Mikan smiled, a genuine smile, and then handed her guitar to the accompanists that were walking off the stage.

Adjusting her microphone to standing height, she spoke. "Thanks for listening, but I have one more song for tonight. Hope you enjoy, _Sakura Biyori _by Mai Hoshimura, to celebrate the blooming Sakura flowers this season." Mikan bowed, then suddenly caught sight of a dark-haired boy's eyes staring at her. She felt like she was being X-rayed by that stare, and shivered at the familiarity of it all. Mikan met his eyes and blinked. It was Natsume.

Mikan immediately averted her eyes and nodded to Narumi. The sound of a music box flowed out of the stage's speakers. Then, the back-up singers started humming, creating perfect harmony.

Then, the music box notes stopped, Mikan took a deep breath, and began to sing, once more.

**Juuroku de kimi to ai hyakunen no koi wo shite ne**_  
I met you at age sixteen and fell into a hundred-year love_**  
Hirahira to mai ochiru sakura no hanabira no shita de**_  
Under these cherry blossoms that fall slowly_

Unlike the other song that Mikan sang, Mikan's voice was soft, but strong, and sad.

**Aitakute kakenuketa hi no ataru kyuu na sakamichi ya**_  
The steep hill I ran through, wanting to see you and_**  
Kouen no sumi futari no kage wa ima mo kawaranu mama**_  
Our shadows in the corner of the park remain unchanged _

Natsume's strong gaze wavered as he saw Mikan's tears fall from her eyes and down her cheeks.

Mikan took a deep breath and plunged into the emotional chorus.

**Kimi to boku to "Sakura biyori" kaze ni yurete mai modoru**_  
You, me, and the cherry blossom weather returns after being swayed by the wind_**  
Marude nagai yume kara sameta you ni miageta saki wa momoiro no sora**_  
As if I woke up from a long dream, the sky I looked up at is pink _

Mikan lifted her hand and pointed at the dark sky, as if it was pink. The audience followed her gaze and smiled. Even though the sky wasn't pink, everyone imagined it so.

**Suki deshita suki deshita egao saki someta kimi ga**_  
I loved you; I loved you who created a colorful smile_**  
Boku dake ga shitteita migigawa yawarakana ibasho**_  
That soft spot to the right that only I knew about _

_(I love you… I love you so much…)_

Natsume closed his eyes and bowed his head down at those "I love you's". He felt Mikan's emotions toward him, but, he also felt her reluctance toward him, all through her voice.

**Sakura no shita no yakusoku "rainen mo koko ni koyou" tte**_  
A promise made beneath the cherry blossom 'let's come here again next year'_**  
Nandomo tashikameattakedo ima mo hatasenu mama**_  
We made sure many times but it's still unfulfilled _

_(I thought you were going to come back…)_

**Kimi to boku to "Sakura biyori" kaze ni sotto yomigaeru**_  
You, me, and the cherry blossom weather is recreated softly in the wind_**  
Kimi mo ima doko ka de miteru no kanaa?**_  
Are you looking at it from somewhere?_**  
Ano hi to onaji momoiro no sora**_  
That same pink sky from that day _

This time, the audience immediately looked up at the sky automatically, without Mikan having to point.

**Oikaketa hibi no naka ni kizamareta ashiato wa**_  
The footsteps left in the days I chased after_**  
Nani yori mo kakegae no nai takaramono**_  
Are treasures more important then anything else _

Mikan, unconsciously, put both of her hands on her heart and closed her eyes, making more tears fall from her eyes. Natsume wanted to go up onstage and hug her, to tell her it's alright, to tell her to stop crying, but he couldn't.

Mikan prepared for the second to last chorus, but because she was tearing up so much, she dropped her voice to a clear, soft whisper.

**Kimi to boku to "Sakura biyori" kaze ni yurete mai modoru**_  
You, me, and the cherry blossom weather returns after being swayed by the wind_**  
Tomedonai omoi ga afuredashite namida ga komiageta**_  
The unstoppable feelings overflow and tears build up _

Mikan knew she had to end the song strong, so she took a deep breath and poured her heart into the song to make her voice have strength.

**Kimi to boku to "Sakura biyori" kaze ni yurete mai modoru**_  
You, me, and the cherry blossom weather returns after being swayed by the wind_**  
Mada minu mirai wo mune ni daite miageta saki wa momoiro no sora**_  
With the unseen future held in my chest, I look ahead and see the pink sky_

Mikan smiled.

* * *

"And that concludes our Hana Dance show! Feel free to eat and dance for the next two hours! After those two hours, we'll choose random people to partner up and dance in front of everybody! Then, finally, we'll vote for the Hana Queen and King at the very end!"

Ruka continued on. "The night will consist of English and Japanese songs, with all different styles, fast and slow. There will even be some surprise live bands that will play the songs that you will dance for!"

"Enjoy," Hotaru finished as she stepped off the stage in search of some good crab brains.

At the same time Hotaru jumped off the stage and onto her duck scooter, Mikan burst out of the backstage from the back door and ran to the food table.

"Chichi!" Mikan called, eyes following Chichi who was making a beeline toward the dance floor. "Aren't you hungry?"

Chichi turned her head to face Mikan. "Hungry for the dance floor, baby! YEAAAH!" She woo-hooed, throwing her arms up in the air as her eyes locked onto her date's.

"ARE YOU REAAAD-AY?" The DJ rumbled into the microphone.

"WOOOO!" It seemed as if everyone at the school was screaming.

"ALRIGHT! Let's get this party started!"

_Oh, hot damn, this is my jam_,_  
Keep me partying till the A.M_

"_Mikan!_ Stop stuffing your face with food and get out and shake that thang!" Chichi called out before being whisked away by her date.

_Y'all don't understand, make me throw my hands_

"_Demo_, I'M HUNGRY!" Mikan called back, but Chichi wasn't listening.__

In the aye, ay, ayer, ayer, ay, ayer

Mikan sighed happily. This was going to be a fun night!

Just as she reached for an egg sandwich, Ruka appeared.

"Mikan, you look amazing," were the first words he said.

Mikan blushed heavily and hugged him. "Thanks!"

He smiled. "No problem. You wanna dance, or eat first?"

Mikan giggled. "I want to dance really badly, but my stomach doesn't agree."

"Sure! Let's grab a table next to Koko." Ruka laughed as he led the way. Mikan couldn't help but admire the prince-like qualities that Ruka had. It's like he jumped out of a fairytale, and into her heart.

"Hey guys!" Mikan chirped, but then stopped short when she saw Sumire at the table. She quickly glanced at Ruka, who nodded meekly.

Luckily, Sumire was in high spirits today and didn't say anything rude. "Hey Ruka, Mikan," she called.

"So, who are your dates?" Mikan asked after she sat herself and finally succeeded in grabbing a sandwich.

Sumire pouted. "I wanted to go with Natsume, but he rejected me. So I'm with Mochu." Her pouty expression immediately turned to a happy one as Mochu lazily draped his arm on her shoulders.

Mikan blinked a little at the mention of Natsume, but giggled at Sumire's happy reaction to Mochu. Suddenly, Sumire shrieked, "What are you _doing_ here, _nii-san_?"

Hotaru's head snapped up from her crab leg and slowly turned her head toward Sumire. And there he was. Hotaru's big-time stalker, Sumire's brother.

_Uh oh… _everyone thought, except for Sumire's brother.

"Imai! Can you…" at this moment, he produced a rose out of his pocket, "dance with me?" he said, in an attempt of using a manly voice.

Hotaru looked super disgusted and shot him with her baka gun. Even Sumire looked relieved as her brother got knocked out and slid away from their table.

"Where's Chichi?" Anna and Nonoko asked. Mikan smiled and pointed at the center of the dance floor, where two dozen boys were surrounding Chichi and her date, who was using a chiffon scarf to pull him closer and closer.

Sumire's eyes were wide, but Mikan, Anna, Nonoko, and Hotaru were used to Chichi like that.

"What is she _doing_?" Sumire gasped.

"Attracting eighty percent of the male population, what else would she be doing?" Nonoko replied, high-fiving Anna and Mikan. They were sitting an eleven-person round table with Sumire, Mochu, Mikan, Ruka, Anna, Koko, Nonoko, Yuu, and Hotaru. There were two empty seats for Chichi and Ryou.

"O-oh," Sumire stuttered. The nine of them sat, ate, and chatted for a while. Mikan was in pure bliss watching her classmates dance to the fast beat of _CaramellDansen_. But still, the one that awed her the most was Chichi. Ryou was pretty good too, keeping up with Chichi's fast moves.

Not that Mikan was trying to play detective or anything, but she couldn't help but notice Chichi glancing at a certain table more than often. Mikan followed Chichi's gaze and it landed on the harasser: Hiro. Yeah, the red-haired, hot and handsome Hiro.

Still, it came as a shock. Mikan never told Chichi how much she disliked him, but still…

_How could Chichi have fallen in love with him?_ Mikan thought, sinking her teeth into a poor strawberry quite viciously.

"WHEW!" Chichi suddenly appeared at their table and plopped next to Anna. Ryou, her date, sat himself to next to her. "Damn, that tired me out!" Chichi leaned back on her chair and put her arms up in defeat. She took her empty glass cup and dangled it in the air. A waiter immediately hurried over and filled it with fresh ice water. Gratefully, Chichi took a sip and nodded at the waiter, who blushed and hurried away.

_She's really the human Aphrodite… _everyone was thinking.

"Ne, Mikan? Let's dance." Ruka suddenly twirled Mikan out of her chair and brought her to the dance floor. Everyone followed, and soon, a familiar tune coming out from a piano was heard.

_I'm holding on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground…  
And I'm hearing what you say, but I just can't get a sound… _

Mikan rested her cheek on Ruka's chest as they danced slowly, but steadily to the song's slow beat. Mikan closed her eyes and took in her surroundings: her friends dancing with their dates beside her, the music, Ruka, how close their bodies were…

_You tell me that you need me, and then you go and cut me down  
__But wait…  
You tell me that you're sorry didn't think I'd turn around_

"Mikan…" Ruka whispered in her ear.

"Yeah?" Mikan looked up at him. He grinned, and then twirled her in the air like a ballerina.

_And say…_

Suddenly, she caught a flash of Natsume while she was twirling. Then, Ruka stopped her and they danced close together again. But Mikan couldn't help searching for Natsume while they were dancing.

_That it's too late to apologize  
It's too late  
__I said it's too late to apologize  
It's too late_

It _was_ too late. For the rest of the song, she couldn't find him. She laughed softly to herself.

"What?" Ruka asked.

"Nothing," Mikan replied. What she wanted to say was, _It's really too late._

The gang all went back to their table and downed glassfuls of water in a second. It was a slow song, but they were still tired, except for Chichi. She was used to dancing fast for three songs in a row.

"I wonder what song is next!" Anna squealed.

Mikan smiled. "Me too!"

The gang all listened closely, except for Hotaru, who was staring off into space with dollar signs in her eyes. Suddenly, the sound of drums brought Hotaru back into earth.

Her eyes narrowed as the song began.

_HEY!  
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh Oh-Oh, Oh, Oh Oh-Oh, Oh, Oh Oh-Oh_

Hotaru stood up and made her way to the dance floor like a zombie. Everyone's eyes widened. Mikan followed Hotaru in shock.

"H-Hotaru?" she stuttered.  
_  
HEY!  
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh Oh-Oh, Oh, Oh Oh-Oh, Oh, Oh Oh-Oh  
HEY!_

"_Kirai-janai _(I don't hate it)" Hotaru was mumbling.

"_Nani? _You like this song, Hotaru?" Mikan asked.

Hotaru scowled. "I said I didn't hate it."

Mikan nodded in understanding. 

_Four years you think for sure  
That's all you've got to endure  
All the total dicks  
All the stuck-up chicks  
So superficial, so immature_

"C'mon, Hotaru! DANCE!" Mikan was dancing alongside Hotaru, who was just standing there.

_Then when you graduate,  
You take a look around and you say "Hey Wait!"  
This is the same as where I just came from,  
I thought it was over, aw that's just great._

"Yes!" Mikan punched the air. She succeeded in getting Hotaru to shift the weight between her feet, making her rock back and forth.

_The whole damned world is just as obsessed  
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex_

Mikan got an idea. She grabbed Hotaru's hands and twirled Hotaru around and around. Too bad Mikan didn't catch that evil glint in Hotaru's eye. The minute Hotaru let go, Mikan went flying backwards and bumped—err, no, that's an understatement—crashed into somebody and sent them both flying backwards.__

Who's got the money, who gets the honeys,  
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess

"_ITEEEEH!_" Mikan wailed, before realizing who the person was that she crashed into.

"Still the same polka-dots. Do you buy the same design, or have you still got the same pair, _mizutama _(Polka-dots)?" A voiced teased behind her.

Mikan slowly turned her head toward the direction of the voice, which was from beneath her.

"NATSUME!" Mikan's pupils dilated in shock as she tried to get off him, but he kept his iron grip on her waist.__

And you still don't have the right look  
And you don't have the right friends  
Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends…

"High school never ends," he whispered into Mikan's ear. Mikan blushed furiously, and then kicked his shin to get up.

Natsume smirked as he watched his polka-dots run away from him and back to Hotaru, who had a smug look on her face. Ruka looked furious, and nodded at Natsume grimly.

What did that nod mean?

It meant the start of a war.

A war for Mikan.

* * *

**WAHAHA no cliffie again! I'm super, super sorry for the long update, even though it's summer, I've been watching anime a lot, so I don't really have time to update. After updating this chapter, I'll work on my Unlucky Girl series, then back to this one, and so forth.**

**I've already stated the two songs that Mikan sang at the show, so for the dance songs:**

**First song: In the Ayer – Flo Rida**

**Second Song: Apologize – One Republic**

**Third Song: High School Never Ends – Bowling For Soup**

**Actually, the second song they dance to is CaramellDansen, but I didn't put any of the lyrics, so yea. For the next chapter, there will be more dancing and a—heh heh—a kiss, between our favorite couple. YES you heard right! **

**SPECIAL THANKS to my beta-reader, Gemma-chan, known as xSTICKYxNOTEx. **

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**xSTICKYxNOTEx**

**Pukite**

**xXStarryangelzXx**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**xXlil'eveXx**

**goddessAngela**

**Dominiqueanne**

**Eileene**

**XKasumiX**

**Thank you, my supporters! You're my motivation!**

**Mata!**

* * *

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	9. Chapter 9: Unwanted Confession

►**The Living Dead**◄

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

—**Name— **That person's point of view. So, if it's —**Mikan—**, then it's her point of view.

**Beta-reader: Serenade in Silence**

* * *

_**Previously…**_

"**High school never ends," he whispered into Mikan's ear. Mikan blushed furiously, then kicked his shin to get up.**

**Natsume smirked as he watched his Polka-Dots run away from him and back to Hotaru, who had a smug look on her face. Ruka looked furious and nodded at Natsume grimly.**

**What did that nod mean?**

**It meant the start of a war.**

**A war, for Mikan.**

* * *

▬_Chapter Nine: Unwanted Confession▬_

Mikan flumped back into her seat in frustration.

"What's up, Mikan? Your face is red." Sumire took a sip of her tea.

"Eh? No-no-nothing." Mikan shook her head furiously, then looked around. "Where's Ruka and Hotaru?"

"Hope you enjoyed the dance so far! Now, we have our live concert…" Ruka suddenly appeared on the stage.

"Please put your hands together for the amazing multi-lingual singer, BoA," Hotaru's expression was bland and indifferent, but the rest of the school was clapping like mad.

Suddenly, a girl with a mix of dark-brown and caramel-colored hair stepped on stage.

"KYAAAAA! It's really BoA!" Mikan, Sumire, Anna, and Nonoko screamed.

BoA tossed her medium-length hair to the side and smiled at the audience. She spoke into the microphone with ease and had a cheerful aura around her. "Thanks for having me here!" She spoke in fluent Japanese, even though she was born in Korea. "As you might've guessed, I have the Singing Alice and went to the Alice Academy of Korea."

"What about your dancing, BoA-sama?" someone screamed from the audience.

"Eh? Dancing?" BoA laughed softly. "That's just a talent I picked up later on. You don't have to have an Alice to be good at something, you know?"

Mikan's eyes sparkled. "That's the same thing I said to Permy on the first day of school at the Academy!"

"_Tonigaku _(Anyway), please listen to _Shine We Are_." She smiled, then the lights went out.

"Whoaaa! _Sugoi, ne_?" Anna whispered in the midst of the darkness.

"Ne… where's Yuu?" Nonoko suddenly asked.

**(A/N: **_**Please, please, please, **_**I am BEGGING you, please open YouTube in another window or tab while reading this chapter. It'll be so much better if you listen to the song while reading this, cuz it'll get you into the mood. And, for live performances, I suggest after you finish reading the chapter, watch their music videos, so you see what kind of "dance moves" they're doing here.)**

Suddenly, music started playing through the gigantic speakers and the lights went on. The regular stage turned into a tiled dance-floor right before their eyes. Mikan smiled as she now knew where Yuu was.

BoA grinned as she started dancing along with her back-ups.

"OMG! Amazing… how can she do that?" Everyone stared in awe as she danced a few moves that they would _never_ be able to do, with ease, grace, and always had a smile on. She twirled, she jumped, and Mikan's eyes were shining. BoA was her favorite singing idol.

**(A/N: Shine we Are by BoA. GO ON, LISTEN TO IT!)**

_Gonna take a chance…  
__Nanana na na nanana  
Haha-a ha-a-a  
Oh baby…_

_Something new?  
Oshiete What's your dream?_  
**Tell me, what's your dream?**

BoA winked at them all, and suddenly, a loud thump was suddenly heard. Mikan turned to the direction of the sound and saw a group of boys lying on the ground. Their faces were flushed. Apparently, they fainted after BoA winked.

_Ruupe de nozokuyo, try me boy_  
**I'm going to go over you with a magnifying glass, try me boy**  
_Futari chikazuku kimochi umi yori mabushiku yurasou_  
**I feel like we're getting closer, let's sparkle brighter than the sea**  
_Umaku iku koto mo sou ja naku sugiru koto datte..._  
**Things that go well, and things that don't at all…**  
_Demo shinjiteru itsuno hi ka, so shine we are! Wow…_  
**But I believe, someday, so shine we are! Wow…**

"Mikan! Let's dance!" Anna clasped Mikan's hands into her own and together, they walked on the deserted dance floor. Nonoko and Sumire followed them.

_I feel the brightness love, taiyou dakishimetara_**  
I feel the brightness love, if I embrace the sun**_  
Nokosazu with you kanaeru, happiness!_**  
Then, with you, every bit of me will find happiness!**_  
Shiroi nami ga sosogi komu mirai nara_**  
If a white wave is going to wash over us in the future**_  
Hadashi no mama de hashitte yukeru_**  
Then we can run barefoot**

It was such a happy song, with a happy chorus. Mikan couldn't help but smile as she threw her hands in the air and danced.

_Zutto onnaji basho wo ittari kitari shiteita_**  
We've been coming and going, to all the same places**_  
sorega toomawari demo chikamichi dattari shite ne_  
**Take a short cut, even if it's a detour  
**  
More girls were filing onto the dance floor now. Together, they danced, all wearing happy smiles.

_hashagi sugita ato nantonaku samishiku nattari_**  
It's kinda lonely after the fun is over**_  
dokoka nite iru futari demo So shine we are! Wow…_**  
We even kinda look the same, so shine we are! Wow…**

Aya, a cute girl known for her Dancing Alice, was in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by everybody. She was dancing the same exact moves of BoA's back-up dancers, and it was absolutely fun to watch.

BoA smiled as she plunged into the chorus.

_I feel the brightness love dare demo ii wake ja nai_**  
I feel the brightness love, not just anyone will do**_  
tsunaida te no atsusa wa hitotsu_**  
The heat of your hand on mine is unique**_  
kanata wo miru hitomi ni iki wo tometa_**  
Your eyes saw right into me, causing me to catch my breath**_  
afureru yume ga ukandeta kara_**  
It gave me hundreds of dreams  
**_  
__Yes I'm gonna feel all right, gonna take a chance  
shiawase ni nare, All I need is love_**  
Be happy, all I need is love**_Yes I'm gonna feel all right, gonna take a chance  
shiawase ni nare, All I need is love_**  
Be happy, all I need is love**

Now, it was the back-up dancers' time to shine. The four of them formed into two pairs and mirrored each other's moves. It seemed… surreal, how they were dancing with such ease.

_Oh yeah__  
Uh uh uh uh uh__  
Ha-a ha-ha-a-a ha-a__  
I feel so good!  
Take a chance__  
Hey, haha  
__Feel so right, baby_

_Umaku iku koto mo sou ja naku sugiru koto datte..._**  
Things that go well, and things that don't at all…**_  
Demo shinjiteru itsuno hi ka, so shine we are! Wow…_**  
But I believe, someday, so shine we are! Wow…**

"Shake those hips, baby!" a random boy shouted from the audience. Mikan and her friends cringed in embarrassment, hoping BoA wouldn't mind that stupid boy's rant. But BoA's happy expression didn't falter, even for a second. Instead, she winked at the direction of that voice and continued smiling and dancing.

_I feel the brightness love, taiyou dakishimetara_**  
I feel the brightness love, if I embrace the sun**_  
Nokosazu with you kanaeru, happiness!_**  
Then, with you, every bit of me will find happiness!**_  
Shiroi nami ga sosogi komu mirai nara_**  
If a white wave is going to wash over us in the future**_  
Hadashi no mama de hashitte yukeru_**  
Then we can run barefoot  
**_  
I feel the brightness love dare demo ii wake ja nai_**  
I feel the brightness love, not just anyone will do**_  
tsunaida te no atsusa wa hitotsu_**  
The heat of your hand on mine is unique**_  
kanata wo miru hitomi ni iki wo tometa_**  
Your eyes saw right into me, causing me to catch my breath**

_Yes I'm gonna feel all right, gonna take a chance  
shiawase ni nare, All I need is love_**  
Be happy, all I need is love**_Yes I'm gonna feel all right, gonna take a chance  
shiawase ni nare, All I need is love_**  
Be happy, all I need is love**

With a bang, the song was done. Everyone hooted and clapped. Mikan jumped up and down in ecstasy. She seemed to have totally forgotten how frustrated she was with her little "run-in" with Natsume.

"Hope you continue to enjoy tonight's concert, everybody!" BoA exclaimed, throwing her hand up and showing a piece sign.

"BoA! BoA! BoA! BoA!" Everybody chanted until BoA disappeared off the stage.

"Now, let's get _looowwwwwww_!" The DJ rumbled.

Mikan cocked her head in confusion. "Uh, what's the next song again?" She turned to Koko.

"_Shiranai _(You don't know)_, _Mikan? It's—"

Koko was interrupted by a familiar tune.

**(A/N: Low by Flo Rida. GO ON, LISTEN TO IT!)**

_Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm  
Let me talk to 'em  
Let me talk to 'em _

Suddenly, Mikan saw a hoard of people crowd around something in the middle of the flashing dance floor.

"Ne? Let's go see what's going on," Mikan suggested to her friends. They all agreed and followed Mikan.

_Let it rang  
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm_

After finally pushing through the dancing throng, Mikan finally caught sight of what everyone was crowding around.

_Let me talk to 'em, C'mon!_

"Natsume?" Mikan whispered, knowing that nobody would hear her under the loud hip-hop music.

_Shawty had them apple bottom jeans (jeans)  
Boots with the fur (with the fur)_

"O.m.g…" Sumire whispered. "That… is…"

_The whole club was looking at her  
She hit the flo (she hit the flo)  
Next thing you know  
Shawty got low, low, low,  
low, low, low, low, _

Mikan's eye bulged out as she watched Natsume dance in the middle of a circle of fan-girls.

_Them baggy sweat pants  
And the Reeboks with the  
straps (with the straps) _

"Damn… why's he dancing?" Sumire asked, turning away. Mikan wanted to hug Sumire.

_Sumire finally got out of her 'I-love-Natsume' phase!_, she thought.

But Sumire wasn't done talking. "Ugh… his dancing is so sexy that it should be illegal."

_She turned around and gave that  
big booty a smack (ayy)  
She hit the flo (she hit the flo)  
Next thing you know  
Shawty got low, low, low,  
low, low, low, low, low _

Mikan gasped in horror, not because of what Sumire said, but at how a random blonde fan-girl was shaking her butt and how Natsume was slapping it.

"Natsume, you playboy!" Mikan growled under her breath. She spun on her heel and walked away. Mikan couldn't take it anymore. She was so disgusted.

"_Sureshimasu _(Excuse me)," Mikan kept repeating as she forced her way out of the dancing crowd, holding her dress up and making a beeline to the bathroom.

"_Chotto _(Wait)_!_ Mikan, where are you going?" Sumire shouted.

Natsume's dancing faltered a bit as he heard Sumire shouting.

But Mikan didn't turn back.

* * *

Mikan came back after a minute, looking refreshed and cheerful as usual. This time, she sat down with Hotaru and Ruka at the table and started chewing on a piece of chocolate cake.

"_Oishi _(Yummy)_!_" Mikan's eyes widened in happiness. This was _almost_ as good as Howalon.

"I wonder what the next song will be…" Mikan mumbled. Suddenly, Chichi, Anna, Nonoko and their dates plopped into the empty seats and heaved big breaths.

"Tired?" Mikan asked, pouring cups of ice-cold lemonade for them.

Chichi answered first. "Damn straight!" she replied before gulping down the lemonade. "_Kyaaaa_, but that was so fun, dancing to Low." She smiled, then caught Hotaru's _stop-talking-now!_ look.

Mikan's face was not smiling for once tonight, and she looked angry and troubled. Chichi cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment.

"Uh… heh… heh… um, I wonder what the next song will be…" Yuu interrupted, hoping to break the awkward silence.

**(A/N: Ike Ike by Hinoi Team. It's a really fun song, so go listen to it.)**

_Ike Ike!_**  
Go! Go! **

"OH MY GOD. My favorite song _everrrr!_" Chichi screamed, getting up immediately with her date. This time, she dragged Mikan and Ruka up to the flashing dance floor as well.

She whispered in Mikan's ear. "Strut your stuff Mikan, make him want you."

Mikan blushed. "What do you mean?" she said slowly.

Chichi winked playfully. "Nothin'!" she chirped before running off.

_Misete koi wa dokyo ni aikyou_**  
Show me what love is, charm and courage.  
**_Mitete ato wa nariyuki TENSHON_**  
Watch all that's left, tension.  
**_Kokoro no junbi wa CHANTO shitokou_**  
Prepare your heart. **

_Wow Wow _

"Mikan, let's do some serious dancing," Ruka smiled. Mikan looked surprised, but followed his lead. Mikan twirled, and Ruka spun her around.

_Eight beat yori mo sexy dance de_**  
Eight beat Sexy dance, do it with an**_  
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!  
__Omotta toori ni hajikete hora tenshi no power_**  
As I suspected, The explosion of the Angels power. **

"Kya, Mikan's so sexy!" Anna exclaimed. Nonoko agreed. Hotaru just stonily sipped her tea.

Meanwhile, someone was seething in anger.

_Damn_, _their bodies are way too close! _Natsume thought angrily, crushing a can of Coke with his fist and tossing it into a nearby trashcan.

At this time, Ruka took a quick glance at Natsume's direction and smirked a little.

_That Ruka… _**  
**

_Ike Ike happy night noritai dake_**  
Go go! I want to ride the happiness.  
**_Ike Ike motto atsuku feel the power_**  
Go go! More warmth to feel the power.  
**_Odoritai shoudou tanoshinde shimaou_**  
Let's have fun with the girls who want to dance. **

"Ruka, I'm gonna go over to Chichi's! See ya!" Mikan called before running to Chichi and dancing with the girls. After all, they couldn't dance with their dates the _whole _time.

"Mikan!" Chichi exclaimed. Mikan smiled back as they danced together. Soon, a group of fanboys of Chichi _and Mikan_ surrounded them.**  
**  
_Wow Wow_

_Ike Ike forever owaranaiyo_**  
Go go! This will never end.**_  
Ike Ike party time yo ga akeru made_**  
Go go! I can feel it until dawn.  
**_Seishun no toki wa jiyuu na ima dake_**  
The freedom we have is like the springtime. **

A flame was appearing and disappearing out of Natsume's hand, as he watched Mikan dance with one of her fanboys.

_Ruka is probably seething too_, Natsume sighed.**  
**  
_Yeah! Yeah!  
_

_Ike Ike_**  
Go go!**

"Woooo! That was soooo fun!" Mikan exclaimed.

* * *

"Now we have our second, and final live performance of the night! Give it up for UVERworld!" Ruka's face was beaming and Mikan knew that UVERworld was his favorite Japanese boy band.

"It's Takuya-sama! TAKUYA-SAMA!" somebody screamed. With a startle, Mikan realized that was Misaki's voice. She chuckled. Poor Tsubasa-senpai.

"Woo! Let's get this party going with _Gekidou!_"

The drums started with a bang, along with the bass and guitar.

**(A/N: OMG, this music video's sooo cool, and I am IN LOVE with the lead singer. The song is Gekidou by Uverworld. Get the music video.)**

_Goooo fight!__  
Oh baby, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
Oh baby, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_

It was awesome. The whole band looked so cool, especially Takuya, who twirled the microphone in a very cool fashion when he wasn't singing. They were all dressed in black suits with black ties, looking formal for the party, but cool as _ever!_

_togisumasu EYES_**  
Having keen eyes,**_  
kikiakita PHRASE ya_**  
hearing those cliché phrases,**_  
dareka no COPY ja mita sarenainda yo_**  
or being someone's copy can't satisfy me.**

"Is it just me, or is the lead singer's voice as sexy as hell?" Sumire asked, breathless.

"The latter. All the way," Nonoko replied, deadpan.

"Haven't you heard of UVERworld before, Permy?" Mikan replied.

Sumire shook her head.

_SPARK kiete kure_**  
I don't want the spark**_  
mata tora no i o karite fuitekundarou_**  
because it'll one day come at me as the threat of a tiger.**

"Wait… is that Tsubasa-senpai and Ruka?" Mikan squinted her eyes at the middle of the dance floor, hoping to see clearly.

Hotaru was already on it, wearing her gigantic binoculars. "Yes, that is. I wonder what they are doing."

Mikan smiled. Unlike that _idiot _Natsume, they were just dancing, without girls.

_makki no dosu kuro no BEST PLAY IN THE HOUSE daiissen no STAGE de_

**The best plays are made at the end of a dark season. The first stage is in the house,**_  
koreppochi mo makeru ki ga shine na_**  
and I don't feel like I can lose this battle.**_  
24/7 Come on, fight it out_**  
Let's fight it out 24/7.  
**_  
shosen ao no sekai ni tojikomerarete warau_**  
Even if I'm stuck in a blue world, I'll laugh everything off.**_  
taiyou o ushinatte boku wa tsuki no arika o sagasu_**  
And because I've now lost the sun, I'll go find the moon.**

"Waaaa! Tsubasa-senpai is soo cool!" Nonoko shrieked, clapping her hands.

"Don't you think?" a voice suddenly whispered in Nonoko's ear. Nonoko jumped out of her chair.

"Hehe, don't be scared! It's me! Misaki!" The pink-haired girl waved her hand and winked.

"Misaki-senpai!" Mikan smiled, giving her a hug.

_mieteita mono made miushinatte bokura wa_**  
We lost sight of things that were clear before,**_  
omoide no umi no naka oboreteiku no ni_**  
and now we're drowning in the sea of our memories.**_  
doushite? chikai atta koto made_**  
But why? Why do I act like**_  
nakatta koto ni shite tsugi no PASSPORT_**  
I never made those promises and move on to the next passport?**

_CLOUDY_**  
Like the cloud,**_  
ushinaware INSISTENCE_**  
I've lost my insistence.**_  
nareai no EVERYDAY FLATTERER ni iratsuitenda yo_**  
I'm tired of the flatterers I meet everyday.**_  
SPARK kiesou da_**  
The spark is about to die,**_  
hakusha wa kakarazu to mo omoi ni utsuroi wa nai_  
**and although it's dying slowly, I won't think twice of what I said.**

"Don't just blabber about Tsubasa, Ruka Nogi is looking pretty _suave_ too!" Misaki pointed at Ruka.

Mikan blushed and nodded.

"But…" Misaki interrupted, "Takuya-sama is _waay_ cooler than both."

They all laughed nervously, except for Permy, who was busy staring at Takuya, having no eyes for the other boys, even her poor Mochu.

_makki no dosu kuro no BEST PLAY IN THE HOUSE daiissen no STAGE de_  
**The best plays are made at the end of a dark season. The first stage is in the house,**_  
kozotte sagasu ELYSION no tobira mokuzen de nogasu_  
**and I carefully search for the doors to Elysium so that I can send him there.**

The girls wanted to go on the dance floor, but they knew it was the boys' time to shine on this song. So, they just watched their dates, and, in Permy's case, the hot lead singer of the live band.

* * *

Next thing they knew, they were dancing to another song. This time, it was slow and romantic.

**(A/N: Romantic song… I've done an AMV with my friend on this before… it's Whatever it Takes by Lifehouse.)**

_A strangled smile fell from your face  
It kills me that I hurt you this way  
The worst part is that I didn't even know  
Now there's a million reasons for you to go  
But if you can find a reason to stay_

Mikan sighed and snuggled closer to Ruka. She wished she was dancing to anything but this song. Don't get her wrong, she loved the song, but she hated how it fitted a certain person too well.

_I'll do whatever it takes  
To turn this around  
I know what's at stake  
I know that I've let you down  
And if you give me a chance  
Believe that I can change  
I'll keep us together whatever it takes _

Suddenly, while Ruka twirled her slowly around, she felt a strong hand grip her waist and pull her away. She lost contact with Ruka's hand and found herself twirling towards another person.

Natsume clutched Mikan close to him, so close that their bodies were practically pressing onto each other. Mikan tried to pry herself away from him, but, even though she trained with the Dangerous Abilities, he was too strong for her.  
_  
She said "If we're gonna make this work  
You gotta let me inside even though it hurts  
Don't hide the broken parts that I need to see"  
She said "Like it or not it's the way it's gotta be  
You gotta love yourself if you can ever love me." _

"Natsume, _hanashite_ (let go of me)!" Mikan growled.

"No," was his simple answer. She could practically hear him smirking through his words. Amazingly, he was a good dancer. Mikan blushed as she remembered that Natsume danced with her on the Christmas ball… and that very night, he took her first and second kisses.

"Stop struggling and just dance with me… _Mikan_…" he breathed Mikan's name in her ear, making her shiver with eerie excitement. Mikan sighed and stopped struggling.

_I'll do whatever it takes  
To turn this around  
I know what's at stake  
I know that I've let you down  
And if you give me a chance  
And give me a break  
I'll keep us together, I know you deserve much better _

Just as Mikan was wondering where Ruka was, and how he was feeling about… _this_, a hand suddenly pulled her away from Natsume. Mikan found herself back in Ruka's warm arms and exhaled the breath she had been holding for a long time.

_But remember the time I told you the way that I felt  
That I'd be lost without you and never find myself  
Let's hold onto each other above everything else  
Start over, start over _

Ruka kissed the top of Mikan's head and pulled her close. They weren't even dancing anymore, they were just standing still and hugging each other. Only when the last chorus started coming up, did they start dancing. But this time, Ruka's eyes darted around in search for Natsume, making sure he didn't steal Mikan away again.

_I'll do whatever it takes  
To turn this around  
I know what's at stake  
I know I've let you down  
And if you give me a chance  
and believe that I can change  
I'll keep us together whatever it takes_

Mikan peered up into Ruka's face, and a slow smile spread across her face.

Ruka kissed Mikan's cheek and said, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Mikan nodded. She didn't move from the dance floor though.

Another song started…

**(A/N: Just One Last Dance by Sarah Connor.)**

_Just one last dance...  
Oh baby...  
Just one last dance…_

She felt a finger tap on her shoulder. Mikan knew who it was. She spun around and took in the sight of the boy she loved—no, used to love. This time, he wrapped his arm around Mikan's waist and gently pulled her close.

_We meet in the night in the Spanish café  
I look in your eyes just don't know what to say  
It feels like I'm drowning in salty water_

Mikan sighed. No truer words could be spoken. Natsume's crimson orbs never failed to mesmerize her.  
_  
A few hours left 'til the sun's gonna rise  
Tomorrow will come an it's time to realize  
Our love has finished forever_

_How I wish to come with you (wish to come with you)  
How I wish we make it through _

Mikan glanced at their entwined fingers and blushed. Natsume twirled her around and around, but neither of them had a smile on their faces. The aura around them was serious and thoughtful.  
_  
Just one last dance  
Before we say goodbye  
When we sway and turn round and round and round  
It's like the first time  
Just one more chance  
Hold me tight and keep me warm  
'Cause the night is getting cold  
And I don't know where I belong  
Just one last dance_

_The wine and the lights and the Spanish guitar  
I'll never forget how romantic they are  
But I know, tomorrow I'll lose the one I love_

_There's no way to come with you  
It's the only thing to do_

_Just one last dance  
Before we say goodbye  
When we sway and turn round and round and round  
It's like the first time  
Just one more chance  
Hold me tight and keep me warm  
'Cause the night is getting cold  
And I don't know where I belong  
Just one last dance _

_Ooh baby… yeah, ooh_

_Just one last dance  
Before we say goodbye  
When we sway and turn round and round and round  
It's like the first time  
Just one more chance  
Hold me tight and keep me warm  
'Cause the night is getting cold  
And I don't know where I belong_

As Mikan looked up at Natsume's serious face, she felt her nose tingle and knew that tears were on the way. She squinted her eyes to make them go back, but they refused. Fresh, hot tears poured down her face.

_Just one last dance  
Before we say goodbye  
When we sway and turn round and round and round _

_(When we sway and turn around and, hold me tight, I know, my love)  
It's like the first time  
Just one more chance  
Hold me tight and keep me warm  
'Cause the night is getting cold  
And I don't know where I belong _

_(The night is getting cold, and I, ooh, don't know where I belong)  
Just one last dance _

Natsume let go of her hand and used his thumb to wipe her tears away. He didn't speak at all, but his eyes never left Mikan's.

_Just one last dance_

_Just one more chance_

_Just one last dance_

The song was finally done. Mikan prepared to curtsy and run away from Natsume, but his hand held her back.

"Come with me," were his only three words. Mikan shook her head furiously and tried to shake his hand off, but Natsume dragged her off anyway.

* * *

"Eh? Where's Mikan?" Ruka asked. All of his friends shook their heads, even Hotaru.

Ruka sighed and sat at the table, waiting patiently for Mikan.

* * *

Mikan jumped as Natsume slammed both of his hands on the wall, trapping her. His bangs covered his eyes, so Mikan had absolutely no idea what he was thinking. Suddenly, she thought of Ruka and how he acted the same way before he viciously kissed her like a wild animal.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Mikan asked. Why did these things happen to her? Why?

He didn't respond. Instead, he looked up into her face and stared at her for a moment. The moment seemed like minutes—_hours, even_—to Mikan who couldn't help but stare back. He was so perfect, in a different way than Ruka was. Ever since he came back, Mikan never got a chance to look at his face closely. She was too busy trying to avoid him.

His features were much more handsome than four years ago, he was more mature and… beautiful. Mikan blinked as a thought struck her. Was Natsume scrutinizing her face, comparing her looks to that of four years ago, like she was? Mikan finally squeezed her eyes shut and looked away.

"What do you want?" Mikan asked.

He didn't reply.

"Nastume… answer me," Mikan pleaded.

"Mikan… I…" Natsume looked angry. "I…"

"Yes?"

Natsume closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I never got a chance to tell you properly… so," he paused, "I'll tell you now."

Mikan blinked. Her heart started to race, like it knew what was coming before her brain did.

Natsume took one of Mikan's brown hair locks into his hands and brought it to his lips. He kissed it, making Mikan blush like mad, and finally, met Mikan's gaze.

"I love you."

Time completely stopped at that moment. Mikan's eyes were wide. Natsume was still caressing her hair, but had a determined look in his eyes as he stared at Mikan. Suddenly, he looked away and stood back. He released Mikan from her cage, but she didn't move an inch.

"D-don't say that, Natsume…" Mikan whispered.

This time, Natsume looked away when he talked. "I loved you, still love you, and will always love you." He seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "I just wanted you to know, you idiot."

His insult didn't hurt her at all. She stepped forward, closer to him. Mikan slowly reached up and touched his face gently with her delicate fingers. His face was cold from the wind, but Mikan gave him the warmth from her hand.

Her eyes watered as he grabbed her hand, causing Mikan to fall forward. Natsume caught her with his arm and gently pressed his lips onto hers.

Mikan closed her eyes and savored the taste of his lips. They were really warm and soft, and it felt like the puzzle pieces finally matched. Natsume deepened the kiss, pulling on her lower lip, begging for entrance.

Mikan wanted to oblige, but knew she couldn't. She tried to pull away, but it was no use.

"Natsu—" She finally pulled away a little bit, but was interrupted when Natsume locked his lips with hers again. Mikan knew she had no power to refuse anymore, so she opened her mouth a little and let his tongue slide in and explore.

Suddenly, Ruka's face flashed by in Mikan's mind, and she immediately shut her mouth tightly.

"Natsu-ME!" With a great burst of energy, she pulled away from him and stumbled to the floor.

Natsume ran to help her up, but she pushed him away.

"I'm sorry, Natsume," Mikan mumbled, trying to not hiccup, "but you and I—_hic—_are over."

* * *

**GOD I **_**hated**_ **this chapter. It's like, a thousand-ish words shorter than the others, and most of 'em are lyrics to a song that they're dancing to. Still, I'm so so sorry. (sniff) Please forgive me, and still review! I promise the next chapter will be better. Anyway, I think I'm going to wrap this fanfiction up in about 2-3 more chapters, not really sure yet, but I'm telling ya: The end is near.**

**I'm still contemplating on whether to have a happy or sad ending… but I think I will have a sad one, despite the poll results. My beta-reader brought me to my senses, saying every **_**reader**_ **wants a happy ending, DUH, so the poll was kind of pointless.**

**Anyway, if, by any means, you didn't catch the gazillions of author's notes planted in various places in the chapter and **_**still**_ **don't know which songs were used, here is the list:**

**1****st**** Live Performance: Shine We Are by BoA**

**Dance Songs (in order): **

**Low by Flo Rida**

**Ike Ike by Hinoi Team**

**2****nd ****Live Performance: Gekidou by UVERworld**

**Dance Songs (in order):**

**Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse**

**Just One Last Dance by Sarah Connor**

**SPECIAL THANKS to my beta-reader, Chris-chii, who has come back from vacation! YAY! **

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Serenade in Silence**

**XKasumiX**

**xXlil'eveXx**

**Pukite**

**Sternenhagel**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**chris3169512**

**Dominiqueanne**

**goddessAngela**

**Thank you, my supporters! You're my motivation!**

**Mata!**

* * *

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	10. Chapter 10: Mission Sacrifice

►**The Living Dead◄**

* * *

**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**

* * *

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

—**Name— **That person's point of view. So, if it's **—Mikan—**, then it's her point of view.

**Beta-reader: Serenade in Silence**

* * *

**Previously…**

"**Natsu—" She finally pulled away a little bit, but was interrupted when Natsume locked his lips on hers again. Mikan knew she had no power to refuse anymore, so she opened her mouth a little and let his tongue slide in and explore.**

**Suddenly, Ruka's face flashed by in Mikan's mind and she immediately shut her mouth tightly.**

"**Natsu-ME!" With a great burst of energy, she pulled away from him and stumbled to the floor.**

**Natsume ran to help her up, but she pushed him away.**

"**I'm sorry, Natsume," Mikan mumbled, trying to not hiccup, "but you and I—hic—are over."**

* * *

▬_Chapter Ten: Mission Sacrifice ▬_

"_Buh-laa-ckuh Jewel?_" Persona emphasized each and every syllable with annoyance and menace.

"_H-hai_, Persona-sensei." Mikan blinked, coming back to her senses.

"Something's wrong. I hope it doesn't affect the quality of your success, Jewel." Persona smirked.

"Absolutely not, Persona-sensei."

"Good. Someone will be coming with you today…" On cue, the door opened, revealing… _him_.

"What!?" Mikan jumped up; the force of her stand made her chair topple backwards with a clatter.

Natsume just stood there stonily, looking at Persona, but his eyes weren't particularly _focused_ on Persona.

"I am _not_ going with Natsume!" Mikan felt as if the words were squeezed, by force, out of her chest.

"Black Jewel. This is an order." Persona's death glare was all it took for Mikan to shut up, place her chair in the correct position, and sit down obediently.

"Yes, Persona-sensei."

* * *

"Jewel, your file."

Mikan glanced back at Persona, who was impatiently holding a slip of paper. "Oh, _gomenasai_."

Natsume got to it first and held it out for Mikan. Mikan looked at it and contemplated whether to snatch it out of his hands or not.

_That would be too mean_, she thought, as she muttered "thanks" and took it from him. She put on her black mask and took a deep breath.

"Go."

With that one word, Mikan hesitantly grabbed Natsume's hand and closed her eyes, focusing on her destination. Persona smirked with satisfaction as the two teleported away.

They arrived on the outskirts of the warehouse. Mikan turned to Natsume. "I don't know why you're with me, but we might as well make use of it."

She opened the slip of paper and handed it to Natsume to read. Natsume took it and ran his eyes over it.

_BJ & KN,__  
_  
_Destination: W48, East_

_Mission Type: Rescue__  
__Objective: Rescue girl and take back to Academy immediately.__  
__Description: Girl – Black Hair, 13-14 years of age, pale, purple eyes that turn crimson at times. No Alice.__  
__Time: Leave at the first signs of the sun rising, return before sunrise._

_Additional Information: From previous mission, girl identified as Aoi Hyuuga, called Yuki Aoi at the AAO._

Natsume's head snapped up. Mikan's mouth dropped open. That girl she met—Aoi was her name—was Natsume's _little sister_?

"Aoi…?" Natsume choked the words out. His voice was raspy behind his mask. An unpleasant thought suddenly struck Mikan. She didn't know a thing about Natsume's family and never bothered to ask, especially since he was considered dead for four years or so.

Mikan quickly pushed her emotions aside and turned away from him, absentmindedly twirling her slick ponytail. "Listen, we don't have time to talk. I'll take care of the offense, you rescue the girl." In reality, Mikan's tone would've been warmer, but this was a mission, and no personal feelings were allowed_, ever_.

Natsume interrupted. "No, I will take the offense, _you_ rescue the girl."

Mikan sighed. "Listen, Kuro Neko, I don't know what methods you used on Persona to make you come with me, but this was—and still _is_ _MY_ mission. Let me decide which was which. Just save the girl."

Natsume made a move to grab Mikan's arm, but she was too fast and already started running toward the warehouse. Natsume had no choice but to shut up and follow her.

"I've already taken a mission to the exact same destination, so I know where to go." Mikan's voice was calm and quiet.

"That's why _you_ should rescue her—" Natsume started again, but was interrupted when Mikan quickly put her finger to her lips.

"Shh. I hear somebody." A couple men ran by but did not detect the two hiding behind the bushes.

"Be careful when you use your Alice here, they can detect it. My nullification will work sometimes without being detected, but no guarantees."

Natsume rolled his eyes, even though he knew Mikan couldn't see because of his mask. "I _know_ that already, Polka. I've been taking missions for a couple years already."

"But I still have more experience than you, I took them longer," Mikan hissed.

_She's right_, Natsume thought reluctantly.

"'Kay, so." Mikan quickly drew a map for Natsume. "This," Mikan pointed to a place with a big red dot, "is where Aoi's room is. Hide behind _that_ door if somebody is in the room with her. That's the place where you can't be seen, no matter what."

Natsume nodded without hesitation. "Let's make an after-plan."

"Okay." They spent the next three minutes discussing how they would enter, attack, and return to the Academy safely, with Aoi.

Both of their eyes followed the guards walking out of the building. Suddenly, Mikan whispered, "_Ike_ (Go)." The two of them jumped out of the bushes without much of a rustle. Mikan's total black attire helped her stealthily take out the guards. Natsume grabbed the two guards' legs and pulled the dead bodies out of sight.

_So far, so good_, they both thought, their thoughts traveling to each other's minds, thanks to the Mind-Reading Alice equipment.

While planning, they both decided to let Mikan try her luck and try to nullify the alert system, as she did on her previous mission, without being detected. Mikan held out her hand and concentrated. The red security light on the door stopped flashing and they both knew that Mikan succeeded.

_Left, right, right, right, left…_

"Hey! I think I just saw something," A woman's low voice echoed throughout the halls.

Natsume and Mikan glued themselves to the grey walls but didn't stop moving forward. They quickly rounded a corner as Mikan prayed that they wouldn't be seen.

"Hey! You!" The woman pointed at the two. The men that were behind her immediately swung their flashlights toward Mikan and Natsume, and they were blinded by the beams of light.

Mikan knew they had no choice but to use their Alices here.

At the same time, Natsume thought, _To hell with the Alice detection sensors. I'm going to protect Mikan, no matter what._

Mikan groped around for Natsume's hand, hoping to teleport away from them and directly to Aoi's room, but her eyes were blinded by the light, and she couldn't find his hand. Thinking quickly, Mikan opted for her _Sense_ _Alice_, and her eyes immediately adjusted to the bright light. She glanced at her enemies. Two huge, burly men with sunglasses and black suits, and one average size woman with light brown hair that went to her shoulders.

Immediately, Mikan remembered a person… "Z"… With a gasp and a shudder, Mikan glared at the woman with the hatred that she thought her soul would never possess.

The woman was just as surprised as Mikan. "You… and him…" She regained her serious composure and smirked at Natsume. "It's not a very wise choice for you to come back, after your very recent escape, Hyuuga Natsume."

Mikan heard Natsume growl.

Yuka turned to Mikan. "And… _you_… stop looking at me like that, your face looks even more disgustingly like mine."

Mikan's scowl was immediately wiped off her face, but her hard look remained. Thanks to her upgraded senses, she shifted her eyes to the side and saw Natsume's hand pressed toward the wall. She slowly inched her hand toward his, hoping to go unnoticed by her captors…

"You're still inexperienced as ever, Mikan. Since when did you start working for the Academy? I can see your hand there. Keep going and I'll shoot it." Yuka slowly pulled out a small, but deadly handgun and pointed at Mikan's outstretched hand, so close to Natsume's.

Mikan's eyes narrowed. No mother would talk like that to their daughter. _No mother_. Slowly, hatred for Yuka Azumi started building up in Mikan's chest.

"It was a mistake having you."

Those six words coming from Yuka's mouth were all it took for Mikan to lose control. She furiously _threw_ herself at Yuka, hands outstretched, not really sure what exactly she was going to do to her.

"Jewel, _NO!_" Natsume yelled, but it was too late. Yuka dodged to the side, touched Mikan's arm and suddenly, Mikan felt a weird tingling sensation.

Her eyes slowly unadjusted to the bright light, and she suddenly found herself right in front of those killer light beams. She dropped to the ground and shielded her eyes to protect herself from going blind.

Remembering that it was Yuka who stole her _Sense Alice_, she quickly nullified Yuka's next attempt to steal away her other alices. It was vital to keep those alices in order to complete this mission.

Mikan realized she was a fool for letting her emotions get to her, and now she and Natsume were trapped.

One wrong move, they could both lose their lives. They both knew that.

"Kai, hold the boy down. Kei, keep her blinded," Yuka ordered coldly. "I'm going to get reinforcements. These two are the top workers of the Academy, and I want to make sure they are captured."

Yuka pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed her boss.

Mikan, with her eyes still closed and with her hands shielding them, grinded her teeth together. If the reinforcements come, she and Natsume would be dead meat. That was for sure.

_Okay, calm down, Mikan… think…. THINK!_ she scolded herself in her mind.

Before she thought any further though, she heard a whack and a loud grunt. Yuka, Mikan, and the guy that was holding the flashlight whipped their heads at the direction of the noise and saw Natsume standing over the collapsed man. His hand was in karate-chop position.

Yuka's eyes hardened. "Anyway, just come now. We're at the East Warehouse 48, in section C." She snapped her phone shut and stared at Natsume, who stared back at her. Suddenly, a flame burst out of Natsume's two palms as he dared her to go any closer.

_No, Natsume! She'll just steal your Alice! Natsume, kono baka!_ Mikan screamed in her mind.

Yuka smirked and stalked closer to him. The wavering look in Natsume's eyes signaled to Mikan that he finally realized his mistake, but it was too late.

Mikan squeezed her eyes shut. Yuka outstretched her hand, ready to touch Natsume. Natsume couldn't escape or even tell where the hand was coming from, the damn flashlight was making things harder to see, and his eyes were hurting.

Next, so many things happened at the same time.

Natsume ducked and crouched down, hoping to evade Yuka. Yuka sneered at the Natsume who was crouching down like a little boy, his eyes darting from one place to another, looking for Mikan, and looking for Yuka.

At that moment, Natsume thought, _If my Alice gets stolen, I won't be able to go to the Academy anymore… I'd have to bid good-bye to Ruka. And Mikan. Mikan…_

But at the same time, Mikan let out a blood-curling scream as she blindly swiped her hand around, sending Kei's flashlight flying away from his hand and landing on the ground many, many feet away.

Natsume blinked uneasily, his eyes adjusting from the blinding light to normal, as Yuka's eyes widened.

Before Yuka's hand made contact with Natsume's head, Mikan grunted as she lunged at Yuka again, this time, not fueled by hatred, but by her love for Natsume. The two landed on the ground with a hard _thud_.

The mother and daughter wrestled on the ground. Due to Mikan's small size, she was quickly overpowered by Yuka.

"Do you think you can _beat me_, Mikan?" Yuka panted.

"You never know until you _TRY!_" With that, Mikan punched Yuka in the face and quickly scrambled up. Mikan hurried to Natsume's side with Yuka following closely behind. Mikan quickly sent ten knife-sharp icicles flying towards Yuka, who was immediately pinned against the wall.

Yuka wanted to melt those ice daggers, fast, but she didn't have the _Fire Alice_ or nullification. She was trapped.

"Just GO!"

Surprisingly, those two words didn't come from neither Mikan nor Natsume's mouths, but from Yuka's. Mikan and Natsume whipped around in surprise, and saw Yuka against the wall, trapped, but her face was calm.

"Go. I won't let the reinforcements get to you." Yuka smiled a bit. "Mikan, you've grown since I met you about six years ago. Taller, stronger, and prettier…"

Mikan bit her lower lip, which was trembling dangerously. Natsume wrapped his arm around her and steered her away.

"Be strong, Mikan. Don't let anyone turn you into their puppet… Mikan, also—"

The two of them never found out what Yuka said next, because they heard loud footsteps coming and quickly teleported away.

* * *

Mikan panted as she ran beside Natsume. So far, they hadn't bumped into any AAO members, and they were almost to Aoi's room.

"It's here." Mikan stopped and pointed. Natsume nodded. "You go in, since you're the rescuer, Natsume."

Natsume sighed and slipped in. There were two guards next to the door. There was nothing in the room except for a black lump and a table on two opposite sides of the room. Natsume quickly and silently took them out, with the help of Mikan. Natsume walked closer to the black lump.

"Aoi?" He whispered. He was too excited that he didn't notice the thing smirk.

Mikan burst into the room. "No! Natsume! It's a decoy!"

The black lump rose up and bared its fangs at Natsume. Its red eyes glinted as its hands rose up and clenched into claws. It slashed in Natsume's direction, who dodged swiftly to the side. Mikan used her _Ice Alice_ and sent knife-sharp spinning pinwheels flying towards the monster. It cut the monster up all over, but suddenly, the monster grunted and its wounds were healed.

Mikan gasped and Natsume's eyes showed surprise. "What should we do now?" Mikan asked, while dodging the monster's attacks.

Natsume didn't reply for a while. But, suddenly, he spoke up. "It looks like it was made with an Alice. Perhaps illusion? Try to nullify it with your alice."

Mikan's eyes widened. That was perfect! With a long-drawn out scream, the monster disappeared as Mikan activated her alice.

"Perfect. But the problem is… where's the _real_ Aoi?" Mikan and Natsume exchanged glances and looked around. Mikan activated her _Sense_ _Alice_ and pointed to what they thought was a table. Actually, it _was_ a table, but somebody was tied onto it.

"Aoi!" Mikan and Natsume rushed to her side. Tears were streaming out of her eyes and her ankles and wrists were red and scarred from the rope. They immediately untied the rope and helped her up.

"_Daijoubu _(Are you alright)?" Natsume whispered.

"Mikan!" Aoi hugged Mikan while crying. Mikan patted her back comfortingly. "Who's this?"

Natsume felt as if he just swallowed a boulder, if that was possible. Mikan avoided his eyes, they were too sad.

"We'll explain later. Listen, you can trust Natsume. He's going to take you back to the Academy."

"What about you, Mikan-chan?" Aoi asked innocently.

Mikan smiled. "I'll be there soon after you."

"Okay." The three ran out of the room in search for the back door to get out. Mikan would've teleported them, but she had no energy to teleport three people when she, herself, was so tired. Unlike Natsume, she received a few blows that hit their target from the Aoi-monster.

"Are you alright?" Natsume was holding Aoi's hand as they ran.

Mikan nodded with a nervous smile. "I'm fine."

"Have you noticed that we've been moving _too _successfully?" Natsume asked.

Mikan looked around while she ran. True, there were no guards in sight.

They slipped through the back door and froze in their tracks.

It seemed like thirty AAO members were out there, waiting for them to fall into the trap.

"Holy fuck," Natsume whispered.

Normally, Mikan would hit Natsume for cussing in front of his litter sister, but she was already in her fighting stance.

"Natsume. Escape with Aoi. I'll fight them."

"Are you CRAZY, _bakayaro _(Stupid idiot)?!" Natsume yelled. Aoi covered her ears. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I'll be fine…" Mikan mumbled. Natsume was about to say something, but Mikan was already charging toward the enemy. Natsume watched in horror as she released a fire explosion, taking out two of the thirty offense.

Natsume closed his eyes, then opened them and snatched Aoi away.

"Natsume-san! Natsume-san! Are you going to leave her like that?" Aoi struggled away from Natsume. "Aren't you going to help her?"

Natsume's eyes were shadowed by his bangs. "You are the top priority, Aoi."

"Don't you care about her?"

Natsume's head snapped up as he met Aoi's determined gaze. But then, he wavered. "No, Mikan would kill me if I left you for her." Natsume grabbed Aoi's arm and dragged her away.

* * *

Mikan had a lot of cuts and bruises on her body, and her head hurt a lot from a few punches, but otherwise, she was in good shape. She still had six more enemies to take down. But they were on the same level as her, and she couldn't defeat them, and they couldn't defeat her.

While Mikan was taking out a guy, while thinking about Natsume and Aoi, somebody swung a stick at her, but she quickly dodged away, but her foot got caught in something. Mikan suddenly felt a huge pain in her ankle.

_Shibata _(Shit)_! My ankle's twisted_, Mikan thought as she limped. She grunted as she used her _Telekinesis Alice _and sent two guys flying in the air. She waved her hands around as she smashed their faces into a wall. They fell to the floor, dazed, unconscious, and seriously injured.

She turned around and doubled over in pain. Her ankle was killing her. How could she move with this ankle?

Her hands groped around blindly for something to hold on to so she could get up, and she found a stick-like thing. She hoisted herself up, only to see that the stick belonged to her enemy, and he was smirking down at her. He grabbed her wrist. His grip was like steel, and Mikan wondered if that was his alice.

Suddenly, Mikan heard a crack and felt excruciating pain coming from her fingers and her eyes glanced at them. Her enemy was crushing her fingers one by one.

"_ITE _(OUCH)!" Mikan shrieked. "_Konoyaro_ (You bastard)!" Mikan used her other free hand to release a fireball that was aiming for his face. However, Mikan's energy level was low and the fireball faded midway. But it scared the enemy enough, and he fell unconscious.

Mikan dropped to the floor again and her eyes widened at her red, purple, and blue fingers on her right hand. The last two AAO members fleed for their lives. As she limped away, she suddenly saw Natsume with Aoi on his back, running toward her.

"Natsume! Baka! Why didn't you leave?" Mikan called out, tears streaming out of her eyes from the pain.

"How could I leave you, baka youjo!" Natsume yelled back. He glanced at her swollen fingers and bloody face. "Look how injured you are, you stupid stupid stupid…!" Natsume trailed off as Mikan looked at him with her watery eyes.

Aoi's eyes suddenly widened as she pointed behind Mikan. "MIKAN-CHAN! _Abu-nai _(Watch out)!" she suddenly screamed.

Everything happened in a flash. First, Mikan's eyes widened, and so did Natsume's. Then, Natsume dropped Aoi to the floor and raced to Mikan's side.

The guy that crushed Mikan's fingers revived from his shock and threw a dagger in Mikan's direction. It would've hit her back, but Natsume took the hit and the sharp lade sank deep into Natsume's chest.

Natsume's eyes rolled upwards and his eyelids fell over his eyes. It took Mikan a while to register what was happening.

Then, reality struck her, bad.

"NATSUME! NO! NATSUME!" Mikan shook Natsume's shoulders violently, hoping that he would wake-up and tell her that it was nothing, with his annoying attitude of his. But he didn't wake-up.

Tears started to stream from Mikan's eyes. She stopped shaking him. She clutched his shirt and buried her face into it.

"NATSUME!!"

* * *

**EH. MI. GAWSHIEEZ! The last chapter is next! It will be DA END. It will be a happy ending –kyaha!– So don't worry. Did you like the chapter? Please review for it! It makes me super happy, ne?**** I'm sorry... this chapter was super short. But I think it covered what it needed to cover, and everything like that.**

**I'm not really into writing fight scenes, but I did the best I could! Hope it was okay for you all. I don't really have much to say now… just I'm sorry for the long update. –pout– I have no excuse for being so late, but I am sincerely sorry. However, I'll do my best for the next chapter! I'm putting my other fanfiction on hold so I can totally concentrate on the last chapter for this fanfiction!**

**Honestly, I'm very happy for the last chapter, but nervous too. SERIOUSLY though, I'm afraid I'll screw up the ending and permanently mark this story: CLICHE. :( But I'll try my best, you can count on that.**

**SPECIAL THANKS to my beta-reader, Serenade in Silence. –smile– She does a great job as always, and the story would be nothing without her.**

**Anyway, again, please please review :D I'm not going to demand a number of reviews in order for me to post the next chapter, cuz I understand what it feels like to be demanded by FF authors, but really, please review! LOL I repeat that so much... but...**

**Onegai-shimasu! Please review XD**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**CrimsonEyes44**

**XKasumiX**

**xXlil'eveXx**

**Cute Pukite**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**HinamoriSenna**

**Sternenhagel**

**xSTICKYxNOTEx**

**chris3169512**

**Dominiqueanne**

**Ally094**

**Thank you! Make sure to keep reviewing for the last chapter! LUV U GUYS SO MUCH! -hugs-  
**

**Jaaa!**

* * *

►**Vanillacottoncandy◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


	11. Chapter 11: The Living Dead

►**The Living Dead**

* * *

_**Ruka and Mikan are as happy as can be. The past is the past, and only the present matters. The future will be thought about later. "Live in the moment," is Ruka's motto. Natsume is believed to be dead, after not coming back from a mission, but… what happens when he comes back? Into Mikan's school, into her world, and… into her heart? Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Ruka x Mikan, and others.**_

* * *

**Key Notes:**

_Italics: _Used when emphasizing a word, or writing Japanese.

**A/N: **Author's Note

—**Name— **That person's point of view. So, if it's **—Mikan—**, then it's her point of view.

**Beta-reader: None**

* * *

_**Previously…**_

**Natsume's eyes rolled upwards and his eyelids fell over his eyes. It took Mikan a while to register what was happening.**

**Then, reality struck her, bad.**

"**NATSUME! NO! NATSUME!" Mikan shook Natsume's shoulders violently, hoping that he would wake-up and tell her that it was nothing, with his annoying attitude of his. But he didn't wake-up.**

**Tears started to stream from Mikan's eyes. She stopped shaking him. She clutched his shirt and buried her face into it.**

"**NATSUME!!"**

* * *

▬_Chapter Eleven: The Living Dead ▬_

_Alice Academy Hospital… Alice Academy Hospital… Alice Academy Hospital… come on…_

Mikan usually teleported with her eyes closed, but this time, she forced her eyes open so Natsume never left her sight. His breathing was erratic, and the dagger was still heaving from his chest. Mikan didn't dare take the dagger out of his chest… she just couldn't do it.

Before beating the thirty AAO enemies, Mikan claimed that she couldn't teleport three people at once. But now, she was breaking all her rules, all for Natsume.

"Natsume… please…" Mikan did not have an ounce of strength left to hold Natsume in her arms. Mikan did not know where Aoi was, she just hoped she was still there with them. All that mattered was Natsume, Natsume, and Natsume.

_Natsume…_

Mikan's eyes started hurting from the teleporting, which usually needed to have your eyes _closed_.

Suddenly, they were _there_. Nurses and doctors gasped in surprise as the three suddenly appeared. Their eyes were fixed on the three, but they seemed to be more interested in the dagger protruding from Natsume's heaving chest.

"Oh my god!" Somebody screamed, hurrying to them. Mikan finally let go of her precious Natsume to the care of the nurses and doctors. Mikan felt Aoi's hand clutching hers, in a very comforting way. Mikan glanced at Aoi, who looked at her with sad eyes.

"You love him, don't you?"

Mikan blinked, and looked at Aoi, incredulous. Aoi smiled knowingly back. Mikan looked away. The back of her eyes hurt, which was a sign that she was about to cry. Suddenly, Hotaru and Ruka burst into the hospital.

"What happened? I heard Natsume was hurt," Ruka looked around for him. Mikan pointed to the room where all the doctors were rushing in. Natsume was seen on a stretcher, his face pale and sweaty. He was barely breathing. The knife was still in his chest. The doctors were afraid that if they took it out, a lot of blood would come out.

Everybody rushed to him, even Aoi, but except for Mikan.

"Mikan. Aren't you coming?" Hotaru asked, stopping in her tracks.

Mikan shook her head and pushed her way out of the hospital, tears streaming down her bloody face. But right after she pushed open the hospital doors, she collapsed.

* * *

_The world… is white. Has it ever been so white before?_

_Or am I not in the world anymore… did I die?_

_Am I in heaven?_

"Wh-where am I?" Mikan's eyelids fluttered open.

"She's awake! Get the doctor, or else." Hotaru leaned over Mikan. "Time is money. And you'll have to compensate for the hours I've been forced to spend with you in the hospital."

Mikan widened her eyes. She was still alive. Mikan groaned, but blinked when Hotaru's eyes wavered for a split second.

"Hotaru?"

"What are you looking at, _baka_." Hotaru looked away. "Your filthy idiot germs are spreading all over me. I need protection." Hotaru produced a handkerchief and hurriedly wiped her face and eyes.

"Hotaru…" Mikan stretched out her hand to pat her hand, but gasped when she took a good look at them. Mikan's fingers were bandaged up really tightly, and she could not move them. Then, Mikan remembered the pain from her fingers during the AAO fight.

Suddenly, a doctor rushed in. "I see you're awake."

Mikan sat up painstakingly, since she couldn't put pressure on her hand without feeling jolts of powerful pain.

"Mikan…" Ruka rushed over to Mikan and touched her pale cheek. Mikan smiled a little bit.

"I need to examine her. Please step out for a moment." The doctor waved them away, but Hotaru planted her feet to the ground and raised her baka gun stonily.

"Hotaru… it'll be fine…" Mikan smiled weakly. Hotaru stared at her for a moment, then stepped out of the room with Ruka, still clenching her baka gun.

"Okay, Miss Sakura." The doctor glanced at Mikan's hands and sighed. "All of your fingers in your right hand have been broken, including your thumb."

Mikan stared at her right hand in horror, then clenched her left fist. How would she get by? Heaven's sake, she was right-handed!

"It should heal very soon, right? I mean, you have Healing alices… right?" Mikan looked hopefully at the doctor, but her smile faltered when the doctor cleared his throat uncertainly.

"Well… no. _Eto_… it, err—"

Mikan raised her eyebrows a bit. Why was the doctor acting so nervous?

"I'm sorry, Miss Sakura, but your fingers will never heal."

The doctor's words echoed strangely in Mikan's pounding ears. For a second, she seemed to go deaf.

"Wh-what? Why? I thought you had healing alices!" Mikan hollered.

"Please, miss, keep your voice down." He looked away from Mikan. "Ah, well… mhmhm," he cleared his throat again, "actually, we… already healed it."

Mikan didn't mean to act like an idiot, but _huh_? "What do you mean?"

"We already healed your hand, Miss Sakura. This is the end result of the healing."

Mikan's eyes widened. "You mean, it was worse before?"

The doctor nodded sadly. "I do not know who caused such damage, but apparently not only did the attacker crush your fingers, but put it some kind of poison that slowly spreads throughout your entire arm, then your body, and finally, your brain. Subaru Imai did his best to trap the poison in your fingers for now, which is a miracle already, since the poison was spreading at rapid speeds."

Mikan felt the back of her eyes hurt again. She sniffed, then lifted her left arm to wipe away her tears. She knew she should be thankful, but the loss of using her right hand was a huge blow to her.

How would she keep up with her class when she couldn't even write?

How would she be able to continue missions?

How would I ever dance, write, sew, or do anything, ever again?

How would Hotaru, Ruka, Anna, Nonoko, Yuu, and everybody think of her now? As a handicap? A misfortunate deformation?

How would Natsume feel about her, now?

If so…

How would she ever smile again?

* * *

**A Week Later…**

"Mikan… let's visit Natsume."

Mikan bit her lip and looked uncertainly at Ruka, who wore a sincere expression. Mikan got out of the hospital only one week after she was hospitalized. Her fingers were still bandaged up, though. She did not visit Natsume even once, during the whole time. Inside her heart, she knew that she was at fault for Natsume's condition.

_If she only defeated that one enemy…_

_She should've pushed him away…_

_If she only forced him to stay away…_

_If she only, if she only, she should've, she should've…_

It was driving her crazy, and even hearing his name made her go crazy.

"No…" Mikan whispered.

Ruka closed his eyes and sighed. He took Mikan's hands into his own. "Mikan… you've got to be strong, _please_. For me."

Mikan shook her head rapidly, tears sprinkling everywhere. "I can't be strong, Ruka. It hurts too much."

Ruka stroked Mikan's bandaged fingers gently. "I have no choice, then."

"Wha--?"

Before Mikan knew it, Ruka swept her into his arms and was carrying her to god-knows-where, but Mikan knew where.

"Ruka-pyon, PUT ME DOWN!" Mikan struggled.

But Ruka wouldn't budge. Mikan watched helplessly as he burst through the hospital doors, with everybody's eyes on them. Mikan buried her face in Ruka's shoulder, embarrassed, but also sad.

Suddenly, Hotaru appeared. "I thought you wouldn't." She eyed Ruka suspiciously.

"I owe Natsume. I couldn't help it," was Ruka's confusing reply.

The next thing Mikan knew, Hotaru pushed her through a door and Mikan found herself in a hospital room. She knew exactly whose hospital room it was.

She faced the door and started pounding on it. "Hotaru! Let me out!"

"Please…" Mikan stopped banging and slid to the floor, still facing the door, and only the door.

After a while—Mikan couldn't tell time anymore—she dared to turn around, after not hearing any movement. But she was surprised when she found a Natsume Hyuuga, staring at her silently, when Mikan thought he was sleeping.

Mikan hurriedly spun around and wiped her eyes, her hands on her heart, which was throbbing painfully.

"Mi-kan."

Mikan clenched her left fist and turned around and looked into Natsume's pale face. "I only have to say this to you, then you can go."

Mikan felt a lump in her throat. Natsume's voice was so, so faint, and weak.

"You love him. And he loves you."

"…And it's perfect."

Mikan's eyes widened. What was he _saying_?

Natsume continued on. "But your heart belongs to me."

Mikan gasped and pressed her hand to her mouth. "He" must be Ruka… and… and…

With tears threatening to spill at any moment, Mikan burst through the doors and tore down the hallway.

Natsume lied there stonily, not even moving an inch. He sighed and looked out the window at his favorite view…

A Sakura tree.

* * *

"Mikan! Where are you going?" Hotaru pulled the trigger on her baka gun, and Mikan fell flat on her face.

Mikan sniffed and got up. "Hotaru… I don't know what I should do anymore… I've lost all the confidence in myself."

Hotaru didn't react. "Sit." She and Mikan sat on the stairs to the hospital.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, Mikan. But…I need to tell you that Natsume's going to die. Soon."

Mikan thought she was already numb from her emotions, but this information was like an arrow that pierced through her heart _and_ soul.

"What?" Mikan wanted to say, but no sound escaped her lips. Her mouth didn't even move.

Hotaru stood up, looking at the horizon. Her raven hair swayed a little. "It's true. I heard it from my brother."

Mikan stood up and ran.

Hotaru didn't chase after Mikan this time. Hotaru bit her lower lip and closed her eyes.

* * *

A brunette burst through the doors and only stopped when she caught sight of who she wanted to talk to: Subaru Imai.

"Imai…sama…"

Subaru turned around and caught sight of a red-faced Mikan. He knew what she was here for. He guided her into his office.

"Mikan… so you've heard."

Mikan clasped her hands together. "Natsume's…"

"I'm sorry…"

Mikan shook her head. "I…"

"I-Is thuh-there any-anything I c-can d-do?" Mikan was trying to hold back tears, but failing miserably.

"No… there isn't." Subaru's tone suddenly went cold. Mikan thought it was odd, but thought it was just her imagination.

She nodded swiftly and stood up. She pushed in her chair, bowed, then walked out.

"Hey, did you hear? The Hyuuga boy is going to die!"

Mikan pushed past the gossiping hospital workers. She heard enough "deaths" today.

"People say that he has no cure, but I doubt that."

Mikan halted suddenly, but kept walking, however at a slower pace.

"Karin, how could you? The doctors are doing everything they can with the Healing alices! What are you saying?"

"No… not the healing alices. I heard the only cure for Hyuuga is a special alice."

Mikan stopped completely.

"Wait, Karin… are you…could you be…possibly saying…?"

"Yes."

"The _Time Alice_."

* * *

Mikan sped off to the library and burst through the doors. She made a beeline to the Alice information section and went to "T". She skipped "Tall", "Telekinesis", and "Teleport". Finally, she found it.

It wasn't actually a non-fiction book, it was a legend.

_The Legend of the Time Alice_, it read. Mikan flipped the pages, her eyes widening bigger and bigger after each flip. The book had no text inside, only pictures—cartoon pictures— but by the time Mikan sped out of the library, she knew exactly what to do.

However, somebody interrupted her thoughts.

"Ruka?" Mikan asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. What was he doing here?

Ruka looked down at his feet. He looked sincerely ashamed of himself. "Mikan… I just came here to tell you…"

"There's no use hiding it anymore, Mikan. I know you love Natsume… and… I think we should break-up."

Break…up.

_Break…up…_

* * *

Mikan cried. Every girl would cry if the guy she loved told her she wanted to break-up. Even if she didn't love him as much as she loved another.

Nobody noticed Mikan slip out of her dorm, wearing her mission clothes, and looking harried.

To be honest, Mikan wasn't one hundred percent sure about her interpretations of the pictures in the book. But something kept her going, despite her insecurities. She knew her mission would probably be a failure. But if it was in her power to save Natsume, regardless of what, she would do it.

Before she came to Alice Academy, if somebody told her that one day she would value somebody's life more than her own, Mikan would've scoffed.

Mikan sighed. She jumped over the Academy's gates, which did not electrocute her because she was in the Dangerous Abilities Class, whose students frequently exit the Academy for missions.

Mikan then concentrated…

_Invisible._

_Fly._

_Speed._

Mikan suddenly rose up into the air. It always bothered her whenever she used her _Invisible_ Alice, because even she couldn't see her own body. She flew past the clouds with great speed, thanks to her _Speed _Alice, careful not to go too high, or else the blazing, scorching sun would fry her.

Her personal record for using multiple Alices was five at a time. It lasted her about one and a half hour. At that time, it was on a mission, and when she deactivated the Alices, she was unconscious for four days.

Mikan wiggled her left fingers. She could only rely on her left hand now… She thought of Ruka, she thought of Hotaru, and Natsume.

She continued flying while unpleasant thoughts burned in her mind…

* * *

_Knock. Knock._

No answer.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

Still, no answer.

_Knock. Knock. Knock…_

This was unlike the usual Hotaru. Usually, she'd knock once, and blast down the door…

Hotaru prepared to knock once more, but stopped herself. Then, she spun around and walked away.

She figured that Mikan need "time" on her own.

* * *

Mikan was almost out of time.

She had been hiking up a huge, tall mountain for a while, and she still didn't see anything. "Where is it?" Mikan grunted as she slammed her foot down on a rock and hoisted herself up. Mikan was strong, but she was still clumsy, and she knew it.

"Easy, Mikan," she talked to herself. She peered around once more, still clinging onto the rocks, and trying not to look below her. She was actually climbing upside-down… the mountain started off vertically straight, just like a building, but then curved so that Mikan found herself upside-down.

"Where is it?" Mikan asked herself again while she moved slowly to the left. "Ugh, screw this…" Mikan used her legs to push off the mountain and found herself flying down. Mikan activated her Fly Alice and floated upwards, looking for the top of the mountain. She was trying to preserve her Alices and strength, just in case she needed to fight something later, but Mikan was impatient.

There.

There it was. Mikan flew excitedly toward it, but, suddenly body-slammed onto something. Mikan went flying back the way she came from, rubbing her nose, which was now bleeding.

"Huh—" Mikan realized there was an invisible barrier. She pinched her nose to stop the blood and slowly started forward again, with her injured right hand in front of her, waiting to feel a wall.

She felt it, and nullified it immediately. Mikan wiped her nosebleed with her sleeve, which thankfully stopped bleeding. The moment the barrier disappeared, Mikan gasped and rubbed her eyes.

"_Konichiwa_ (Hello). _Anata dare desuka_ (Who are you)?"

Mikan's mouth dropped open. _W-w-what?_ She was _positively_ sure that there was a person sitting in the center of the top of the mountain, which happened to be a perfect circle. The ground was covered with soft, green grass that swayed a little bit, thanks to the wind. A single flower rose up from the ground, right next to where the person was sitting.

The thing that she wasn't _positively _sure about, was why that certain person sitting in the center happened to look _exactly like her_.

"I'm…" Mikan hesitated. "…Black Jewel. Who are you?"

"No. Aliases are not accepted here."

Mikan sighed. "Mikan. Sakura."

The other "her" smiled. Mikan flinched as she saw rows of yellow, crooked teeth. This adventure was getting more bizarre by the second.

"Who are _you_?" Mikan asked, as she stepped onto the soft green grass and deactivated her Alice.

"I am me. I am what I am. You are you. You are what you are."

Mikan furrowed her brow. She was never good at this philosophical stuff. "Um. Okay."

"What have you come here for, Sakura Mikan?" The other "Mikan" plucked one of the red petals on the only flower and put it in her lap.

"I've come here to…" Mikan stopped. "I've… come here… for…"

The other "Mikan" looked at her intently.

"I've come here to get the Time Alice."

The other "Mikan" raised her eyebrow. "'Get'?"

"Get—as in using it. To possess the Alice."

"Oh, really." The other "Mikan" frowned. "Many, many others have come to ask me for the Time Alice. They all failed."

The other "Mikan" plucked another red petal from the flower, and again, placed it in her lap.

Mikan frowned.

"Tell me, Sakura Mikan. The reason why you are here… is it because of a loved one?"

"Yes. It is," Mikan replied.

She smiled, showing her crooked teeth again. "Then, I cannot help you, Sakura Mikan."

Mikan felt her heart drop to her feet. "But, why?"

"Love does not last forever. Everything comes to an end, and love is certainly not excluded. Besides, you are young, and you do not understand true love. Love at your age is frivolous. Soon, he, or she, will float away from your life, and you can't do anything about it. I am surprised that you are serious enough about this thoughtless love to come here.

"Sakura Mikan, you ask me _why_ I cannot help you… this is my answer." The other "Mikan" plucked another petal.

Mikan's face was shadowed by her bangs. She clenched her fist. "Don't you dare call my love frivolous." Mikan raised her head and glared at the other "Mikan". "You don't understand the hardships that our love went though!"

The girl just sat there, looking at Mikan. "Then tell me, exactly, what kind of hardships you went through."

Mikan closed her eyes, and began to spill her story. Before Natsume died, during and after his "death", and after he revived back to life, and revived the long-lost feelings in Mikan's heart. She told the strange girl everything. Every thought, everything. Mikan did not know how long she stood there, left hand clenched, crying while talking.

When she was done, they were both silent for a while.

The next thing Mikan knew, the girl stood up and stood in front of Mikan. "Dunk your head into this." The girl cradled her arms, and there was a pool of blood in them. With a jolt, Mikan realized the red petals that the other girl plucked from the flower had melted and turned into blood. Mikan looked at her in disbelief, but did as she was told. She felt herself being pulled and suffocated, then, nothingness.

Mikan found herself standing in a black room.

"The one you call 'Natsume'… if he died, he would be happier in heaven. Do you really want to be so selfish and keep him here, in the human world?" A voice suddenly called out, from nowhere.

Mikan widened her eyes. Was it really true? "How do you know that?"

The girl suddenly materialized in front of her. "My love life was similar to yours. It was a typical man, woman, romance story, with a near-death. I did not use the Time Alice to save him."

"But, why?"

"He told me to 'let go', and that he would be happier in heaven. When I thought about it, the more sense it made. He hated his life on earth. There was hunger, pain, sadness, and anger in him.

"Things weren't quite the same after he told me that. I fled. Basically, he was saying that he wanted to die. If he died, he would be gone from my life. I couldn't accept that. I loved him so much, I even gave birth to a child, a lovely daughter, for him. But I couldn't accept his passing away, so I left the child and him."

Mikan walked toward the girl and place her hands on her shoulders. "Did he die?"

She shook her head. "That, I do not know. I fled to this mountain, and stayed here ever since. There is a magical aura to the mountain top, and I am not sure how I survived for so long."

"How old are you?" Mikan asked.

"Time does not matter here. I could still be twenty years old, the age I ran away, or I could be a hundred, two hundred years old. Time does not matter."

"Well—" Mikan paused. "What's your name?"

"My… name?" She looked startled. "I… my formal name was Nadeshiko…"

"Fine, then. Nadeshiko. If he died, I'm sure he's waiting for you in heaven right now. He is probably wondering why you haven't joined him yet. If he's still alive somewhere, then I could help you find him."

Nadeshiko blinked, then looked up at Mikan with hopeful eyes. "You would do that for me?"

Mikan nodded. "But I need to save Natsume."

Nadeshiko sighed. "I certainly hope you are being truthful."

"There must be a reason why we look alike, though. Don't you think, Nadeshiko?"

Nadeshiko nodded. "That's true. Even I don't know why."

* * *

Hotaru found herself knocking on Mikan's door again. This time, she blasted the door off its hinges. She saw a lump in the bed. Her eyes softened as she walked toward it.

"Mikan." She nudged the lump. Something wasn't right. Hotaru pulled back the covers with a flourish and bit her lower lip. What she thought was Mikan turned out to be a bunch of pillows.

A simple math equation was forming inside Hotaru's head. Lump of pillows do not equal Mikan.

In that case… where _was_ she?

* * *

"You ready?" Mikan said to Nadeshiko. Mikan just finished turning Nadeshiko's Time Alice into a stone, which was the pleasant color of violet. It was supposedly very powerful, and lasted for quite a long time.

Nadeshiko nodded. She closed her eyes and stepped out of the barrier. Mikan gasped. The moment they stepped out of the safety of the barrier, Mikan saw Nadeshiko change dramatically. Her long brown hair immediately turned white and gray, and her flawless face now had a quite few wrinkles. Her skin was looser than usual, and she seemed a little bit unsteady on her feet.

"Wow…" was all Mikan could say.

Nadeshiko coughed feebly and turned to Mikan. Nadeshiko now resembled an old grandmother. "I'm ready," she wheezed.

"So, I need the name, in order to track him."

"His name was—is—Yamada Azumi."

Mikan stopped in her tracks. "Y-Yamada… Azumi?"

"Why, yes. Is there something wrong?" Nadeshiko asked.

"What was your daughter's name." Mikan stated it as a question, but it was clearly expressed as a statement.

"Well, I named her Yuka…"

"Yu…ka…" Mikan whispered.

"Is there something wrong, Mikan?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Uh… well… Yamada Azumi… Jii-chan…"

"Jii-chan?" Nadeshiko said sharply.

"Yes… he's my grandfather… and Yuka is my mother…"

Nadeshiko stared at Mikan, then reached her hands up to Mikan's face. "I knew there was something familiar about you."

"Obaa-chan… grandma… you're my grandma!" Mikan smiled, tears of joy sprang up in her eyes. The only person she was close to was her Jii-chan, but now she had a grandmother…

"Let's go to him," Mikan exclaimed. She immediately teleported all the way to her grandfather's house in Nagoya.

Mikan knocked on the door.

"WHO IS IT? I SWEAR, IF IT'S YOU PESKY SALESPEOPLE AGAIN, I'LL SLICE YOUR—Mikan?"

"Jii-chan!" Mikan hugged him. He was still trying to get over the shock. "Mikan? And who's this…" He widened his eyes.

Nadeshiko smiled shyly. "Long time no see, Ya-kun."

* * *

Mikan left Jii-chan and Nadeshiko to do a lot of talking, while she sped off to Alice Academy, clutching the violet Alice stone tightly. Nadeshiko had given her instructions on how to use the stone.

Mikan concentrated on her destination.

_Teleport to…_

_Alice Academy, Alice Academy… Alice Academy…_

With a bam, she was there. Mikan immediately fell to her feet, she was rather weak after the whole journey.

Suddenly, Hotaru appeared and ran to Mikan. "Baka! Where have you been?"

Hotaru suddenly took notice of the purple Alice stone, and looked confused.

Mikan sighed. "No time to explain. I need to get to Natsume."

Just like his sister, Subaru Imai suddenly appeared. "Mikan! What are you—" He widened his eyes when he saw the Alice stone.

"So the legend was true…" he whispered. Mikan pushed past him and burst into Natsume's room. He was sweating and his face was as white as paper.

Mikan pressed the stone in Natsume's palm, but suddenly remembered what Nadeshiko said. Mikan blushed a little, but followed Nadeshiko's instructions and took of Natsume's shirt. She pressed the violet stone onto Natsume's heart and closed her eyes.

"Shiji… anma tralu…vex!"

**(A/N: This is completely gaga. Don't look it up on google, it doesn't mean anything. LOL.)**

The room suddenly burst with blinding violet light. Natsume started coughing, and the room seemed to be shaking, as if there was an earthquake… Mikan felt some of her energy drain out from her body…

Then, everything was over. The room was normal, and it seemed as if nothing had happened. Except now, Natsume's face regained color and he was now sitting on the bed.

"Natsume!" Mikan flung her arms around his neck. Mikan suddenly realized her right hand was healed as well.

"Mikan… what happened? I thought… I was almost dying," he said seriously. "And why is my shirt ripped open?" He rubbed his head, looking at Mikan suspiciously.

"Oh, never mind that." Mikan blushed. "Are you feeling alright?" Mikan felt his forehead. No fever.

"I'm fine… but—" Before Natsume could finish his sentence, he was silenced by Mikan's soft, strawberry-flavored lips.

Natsume welcomed the kiss, just like he usually did, but suddenly, the door burst open and Hotaru and Ruka came rushing in.

"Natsu—whoa."

Mikan and Natsume immediately separated and Mikan bound to the other side of the room. "Ehehehe… um…"

Hotaru pulled astonished Ruka out of the room. "Don't mind us."

Mikan blushed and Natsume smirked seductively, if that was possible. "Come here, Mikan. Let's continue what we were doing."

Mikan was as red as a tomato. "YOU PERVERT!" But when Natsume grabbed her, she obliged.

* * *

Hotaru smirked. She was currently video-taping the whole make-out scene in Natsume's room with her high-quality video camera which was on her tripod. Ruka smiled a little bit. He knew breaking up with Mikan was the best thing to do.

Still… he felt a teeny bit resentful…

"Bunny-boy." Hotaru turned to face Ruka.

Ruka looked back, but was startled. He was never this close to Hotaru's face before. With a jolt, he realized that Hotaru had beautiful skin, and especially her eyes… even her lips, which didn't seem as appealing as before, looked soft and pink now…

_Oh God, what am I thinking? This is Hotaru Imai, here, my blackmailer enemy…_ Ruka backtracked, _my very beautiful enemy…_

At the same time, Hotaru realized her face was too close to Ruka's as well. Before she could move away from him, she was captivated by his ocean-blue eyes for the first time. Instinctively, she reached out and brushed some of Ruka's blonde hair out of his eyes. Ruka blushed, and when Hotaru came to her senses, she flinched and accidentally knocked over her video camera and her tripod, which crashed onto the ground.

"HEY! HOTARU!" They could hear Mikan's screaming from inside. "ARE YOU SPYING?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes and bent down to her now broken camera, but Ruka was faster. "Here," he handed Hotaru the memory card in the camera, "at least the memory card is still intact, the files are safe."

"You're going to pay for this, bunny-boy."

"What? Why me? I didn't do anything!" Ruka looked miserable.

Hotaru smirked, but then smiled a little bit. She looked away from him and pretended to be focused on her broken camera. "Well… I could give you a discount, I guess."

"Huh?" Ruka looked surprised. Hotaru Imai? Discounts? Those two things were polar opposites.

A tinge of red was appearing on Hotaru's cheeks, and it went unmissed by Ruka, who went red as well. Damn, Imai was cute when she was blushing too! What was getting into him?

"Thanks… Hotaru. By the way…"

Hotaru looked up and got lost in Ruka's eyes again. Ruka smiled and showed off his white teeth. He held out his hand to Hotaru to help her up from the ground.

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me, tonight?"

Hotaru's mouth dropped open a little bit. She stood up stonily. "No."

Ruka's face fell. _I must've imagined her blushing. Yeah, it's all in your head, Ruka. Way to act like a dork. _"O-oh… um, I see. Never mind then…"

Hotaru nodded and started walking away from Ruka, with her broken camera parts in her hand. Suddenly, she stopped. Without turning to face Ruka, she suddenly said:

"How about tomorrow night?"

-

-

-

-

▬_**Finé**_▬

* * *

**That's it, folks! Hope I didn't disappoint you with the ending… I had a really hard time with getting ideas for it. There might be some, or a lot of grammar/spelling errors in this one, since I couldn't wait for my beta-reader to finish editing it.  
**

**Serenade in Silence: Sorry I didn't go with the original ending we thought of! I just thought the whole car accident was another whole thing… and I didn't really want to put it in… but I can't thank you ENOUGH for your wonderful work for this story. You are a life-saver! Even if you didn't beta-read this chapter, I still can't thank you enough. **

**Reviewers: Thank you so much, especially those who have stuck with this story to the very, very end. Cute Pukite, Blue-Winged Wind, Dominiqueanne, xSTICKYxNOTEx, chris3169512, xXlil'eveXx, and GoddessAngela, I can't thank you enough. Thanks for making my first fanfiction a success! I will definitely continue writing more fanfictions, and I hope I keep improving!**

**Readers: Even if some of you didn't post reviews, thank you for reading!**

**I'm not going to post an epilogue, so please don't ask for one! Gomenasai! Please review, for one last time, for this story, and it'll make me happy. I want to reach 100 reviews or more, if better! I'm only two reviews away from it, and I think you guys can do it! (hugs everybody)**

**Thanks, again! Hope you liked the ending, and a little bit of Hotaru x Ruka in the ending! And it you didn't like the ending… well, too bad! What's done is already done. :P**

* * *

**--More Reviews--**

**- More Happiness **

**- More Motivation **

**- More Ideas **

**- More Writing **

**- More Updating **

**- More Story For You!**

* * *

**Special Thanks!**

**Serenade in Silence**

**Cute Pukite**

**Blue-Winged-Wind**

**chris3169512**

**Dominiqueanne**

**.Hime no Kanashimi.**

**Eileeene**

**Yasashi**

**Hinamori Senna**

**xSTICKYxNOTEx**

**Starrynight3800**

**Crimsoneyes44**

**Read my other fanfictions :P**

* * *

►**Snowflaked Angel◄**

"To give warmth to hearts... that's the kind of person I want to become." - DGM


End file.
